


Ever Blue! Iwatobi Music Club

by karumello



Category: Free!
Genre: Iwatobi!Rin, Iwatobi!Sousuke, M/M, Slow Burn, band au, basically samezuka doesnt exist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-05
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-04-07 21:12:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 35
Words: 180,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4278102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karumello/pseuds/karumello
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You met him on the school yard, frightened by his appearance. Moments later, you couldn't get him out of your every thought, and your every song.</p><p>(A Free! Band AU. SouMako.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to Iwatobi High

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! You've clicked it! Welcome to my first ever multi-chapter fanfiction, 'Ever Blue! Iwatobi Music Club'. Or just EBIMC for short. 
> 
> There's a few things you should know before you read on ahead:
> 
> \- As it says in the tags, Samezuka doesn't exist. In this fanfiction, the entire cast of Free! All attend Iwatobi High.
> 
> \- This /is/ a band AU so there will be some songs in here. All songs have been written by yours truly.
> 
> \- This is also a SouMako fic, but that isn't going to happen right away. It will begin to develop in later chapters. (Although there is a little smidge of it in the first chapter.)
> 
> And that's about it for now! So without further adieu, I present to you, EBIMC!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

 

Early in the morning, a bird sings its song. Perhaps it's a song to attract a mate, a song for communication, or identifying friends. Perhaps it's a warning. A bird puts a lot of effort into their singing, in order to impress, otherwise they go unnoticed. A bird's song is loud and repetitive, and tend to overpower the wind and the rustling of the trees. Each bird has a different aspect that makes their way of creating music unique; a woodpecker drums, a hummingbird hums.

Today, a red-rumped swallow glides beneath the cerulean skies, glancing down at the quiet town below him almost protectively. He sings a joyful song, swooping low and diving between branches, looking for the perfect perch. The branches are full of pink clusters, as it is spring time. The bird seeks out a thin branch from within the biggest tree, and claims it as his. He slows, his song coming to an end, using his feet as air brakes as he nears his branch. There's a slight breeze as he grasps his new home with strong claws and awaits his mate's song.

However, another song is not heard. The red-rumped swallow remains silent, allowing the wind to take over instead.

Petals, shy pink and white, fall gracefully from their respective branches. The sakura tree towers over the three young boys who stand in front of it, watching as the small petals dance through the air to the song of soft wind. The petals slow to a stop, and begin to sway from side to side, before delicately touching the ground. The sky is pure, not a cloud to be seen. Bold crystal blues contrast with the pastel pinks and whites of the sakura tree, creating a colorful burst of life, it's a scene of breathtaking beauty.

It's such a shame that a beautiful day marks a shadowed milestone.

Haruka looks to his left, watching Rin carefully as he openly gazes at the sakura tree in pure and utter awe. His burgundy locks move with the wind, slowly and softly, but he himself doesn't move at all, like a statue. He is completely captivated by the purity of the tree, almost as if he has some kind of special connection with it.

_He's always loved those trees..._

_Is this what he brought us here for? Just to stand and look at this tree?_

_That can't be it._

Makoto, on the other side of Rin, also seems to be enjoying the view. He too looks up at the sakura tree, perhaps not too enchantedly, but he has a small smile on his face nonetheless. Usually, Makoto's smiles signal that it's going to be a good day. But today feels a little bit different.

Haruka gets a bad feeling. He's finding it difficult to enjoy the scenery. Anxiety swirls up in his stomach, eating at his insides as he eagerly waits for any sort of movement from Rin. But the boy in question doesn't move. Haruka inwardly sighs.

_Matsuoka is so irritating..._

That's when he hears it; Rin inhales loudly through his nose, attracting both his and Makoto's attention. The boy closes his eyes for a brief moment, exhales, and opens his eyes again, looking up at the tree a bit differently.

"I'm going to Australia."

Haruka stands, frozen.

"Australia?" Makoto repeats. Rin nods at the taller boy. "Like... A holiday?" He continues. Haruka's teeth slowly sink into his tongue when Rin inhales again.

The air is sucked out or Haruka's lungs when Rin shakes his head.

_...What? He's..._

"You're... Moving away?" Makoto voices both his own and Haruka's thoughts, saddened and cautious.

The red-rumped swallow takes off from his branch, taking flight so quickly that he shakes the branches, causing a few petals to fall. This time as they fall, they aren't as captivating.

Rin puts his hands behind his head, leaning backwards slightly.

He smiles.

Haruka scowls.

"I'm going to become a professional musician."

* * *

 

Morning sun cracks through the slit in his curtains, casting a lively glow on his face. He sleeps peacefully through the remaining fifteen minutes of slumber he has left to enjoy, his chest rising and falling almost rhythmically with his breathing. His bedroom door opens slowly, as if the person opening it is trying to prevent it from creaking. The door stops moving, and a small, slim figure enters the room anonymously.

Gou gives her brother a once over, tightens the ribbon in her hair, and proudly places her hands on her hips. She clears her throat loudly, but doesn’t elicit a response from her sleeping brother. She inhales through her nose.

Rin's eyebrow twitches.

"Onii-chan!" She calls out with a smile on her face

Rin's face scrunches into a tight frown. She steps closer, her new shoes clacking against his wooden floors. An impatient puff of air escapes once again through her nose. Slowly but surely, Rin's left eye -- the one that isn’t currently engulfed by thick, soft pillows, begrudgingly opens. His eye cracks fully open, along with the other one, when he notices his sister is stood, about a meter from his face, showing off her new uniform.

He smiles to himself, closing his eyes gently as he lifts his upper body from the bed. Gou smiles at him, trying not to laugh at his current appearance, and moves back slightly, her shoes echoing throughout the room. Rin swings his legs over the side of his bed, he stretches, and stands up.

"G'mornin... You got up early to put on your new uniform, huh?" Rin says, a slight roughness to his voice, as he's only just woke up. His younger sister beams up at him, nodding.

"Yup! Don't I just look like a real high-schooler?" She chirps happily, swooshing her skirt a little.

"Well, you are one." Rin says, lightening his sister's smile. "C'mon, let me get dressed in here. I'm sure mom's making breakfast downstairs." He continues, beckoning his sister out with a swift movement of his hand. But before she can move, his eyes catch sight of something, and he pauses to turn her towards him. She watches in curiosity as he grabs the lapels of her black blazer, straightens them out and pulls her bow tighter, careful not to choke her.

He steps back to admire his sister, who looks back at him happily.

_She's grown up so fast..._

Gou giggles lightly, and turns to exit her brother's room, closing the door behind her. Rin stands, perplexed by the thought of his sister's adolescence. It's her first day as a first year at Iwatobi High School, and his first day as a second year. He shakes his head, and walks over towards his wardrobe.

Opening said wardrobe, he files through old shirts and new, stopping when he finds his white school shirt. He pulls it out along with his tie - it's green and not red, now that he isn't a first year anymore. He gives the item an uneasy look. Green never looked good on him.

_Damn it Matsuoka, you're a second year, not a fashion statement._

He peels off his black tank shirt, sprays a little deodorant here and there, and puts on his new school shirt. He fastens each button quickly, and when his index fingers reach the top button below his collar, he's undecided whether he wants to leave it open or not - he hates how his collar would almost choke him at times. His lips scrunch up in thought. Then again, it is really cold outside. He tuts and fastens it.

The green tie that sits on his bed stares at him almost mockingly. He glares back at it, picks it up, and carelessly throws it around his neck, stuffing it under the collar. He ties it fairly loose as usual, and goes back to his wardrobe to retrieve his pants. He kicks off his sweatpants hurriedly, almost turning it into some sort of dance move. The sweatpants are slung into the corner of the room, and he pulls on his pants - which are brown. The colour suits him, but he'd prefer them black. He tucks in his shirt, and slips a thin black belt around his pants.

On his way out of his room, he takes his black blazer that hangs from his door handle, and carries it over his arm to the bathroom. Upon entering the bathroom, the first thing that catches his eye is his reflection in the mirror; his hair is a mess, crimson bangs sticking up and tousled. He grunts in annoyance, places his blazer down on the edge of the bath tub and turns to meet his pissed reflection. Taking the nearest comb, he parts his hair and combs through both sides, making sure there aren't any tangles or any strands sticking up. His small pink tongue pokes out from between his lips in concentration. He runs a hand down the middle of his hair, brushing it back, before those two same strands of his hair bounce back into place over his face. He grunts, his tongue slipping back into his mouth.

He runs the tap so that the water is slightly warm and washes his face, which wakes him up a little, and pats it down with a soft towel. He goes to take his blazer but his attention is distracted again by the mirror.

His cheeks are slightly flushed, and his hair is a mess again.

He growls this time as he hastily combs through the long, red locks. Finally he takes his blazer before giving himself a quick look over in the mirror. Ugh. Green never was his colour.

However, the smell of slightly burnt toast suddenly distracts him from the offending item, and pulls him out of the bathroom and down the stairs.

His mother is stood in the kitchen, her long red hair tied up into a loose bun, she dons a cream-yellow apron, and a small smile. She takes the toast from the toaster, and her ears perk up slightly when she hears her son descending the stairs.

"Good morning!" She says cheerfully, turning to give her son a crinkled-eye smile. Her long, dark eyelashes separate, revealing deep orange hues. Despite the horrible things that have happened to her in life, Mrs Matsuoka has never looked so beautiful. She always manages to look so young not a trace of any wrinkles on her face, or anywhere else on her skin for that matter.

"Morning, mom." Rin replies, all evidence of any raspiness to his voice gone. He takes himself into the kitchen, wine eyes scanning the array of toast for the nicest looking piece.

His mother reminds him of Gou a lot, although both children have their late father's eyes. Gou and his mother have the same smile, hair, and they're very much alike personality wise too. Quirky, hardworking and always bursting with some sort of energy. His mother says that Rin is very much like his father.

Rin always says that he would have loved to have known his father.

Mrs Matsuoka turns around, almost dropping the toast she's holding as her eyes widen.

"Oh, look at you two! You both look so smart in your uniforms!" She cheers. Rin can feel himself heating up. "Gou, go and stand next to your brother, I want a picture!" She continues, rummaging through her pocket behind her apron. Rin sighs, rolling his eyes. It feels like every new school year, there has to be a sibling photo. His sister finishes her slice of toast, and gets up from her seat.

Gou appears besides him in a matter of seconds, smiling up at her brother as their mother struggles to find the camera app on her phone. After a couple of awkward seconds, mother holds up the phone towards her children.

"Smile you two!" She says. Rin smiles, not showing his teeth. The phone flashes. Mrs Matsuoka holds her phone close to her, waiting for the picture to process. Her eyes widen when it does. After a small pause, she sighs, looking down at the picture she has just taken with subdued eyes. The kitchen is almost silent, save for the birds tweeting outside. Both children wait for their mother's response, biting their tongues.

Her lip quivers.

"Don't cry, mom!" Gou pipes up, walking quickly to her mother's side. Rin follows, quickly. Mrs Matsuoka lifts the phone so that they can all see the picture. It really is lovely. And after looking at the picture for only a couple of seconds, both siblings can immediately see why their mother is upset. The sun shines brightly through the window behind them, and sheds a loving light down upon the two. Almost as if it's their father looking down on them. Mrs Matsuoka sniffles.

This happens every year.

"You two are growing up so fast..." She almost whispers, bringing up the hand that isn’t holding the phone to wipe at her eyes. She isn't crying yet, but she looks as she could any minute. "If only your father could see this..." She continues, even quieter. She brings her hand to her mouth, balled up into a fist, as if to stop herself from speaking. Tears glimmer in the corner of her eyes.

Rin himself wants to cry, but he doesn't. If he breaks down, then sure enough both his mother and his sister will, too. Giving what could have been a golden morning, a depressing turn. He can't ruin his sister's first day. If there's one thing he has in common with his mother, it's their ability to become easily emotional.

He looks down at his mother and sister; Gou comforts her mother, rubbing a hand up and down her back soothingly as she desperately tries to stop the tears from falling. They may be a small family, but they sure are the strongest. The thought makes Rin smile. Being the tallest of the three, he puts one arm around his sister's shoulders, and his other arm around his mother's, bringing them in to a hug. He rests his chin atop of his mother's head, closing his eyes and letting the tears he's refusing to let slip disappear.

"Hey," He starts. "I bet dad's looking down on us right now. If he were here he'd probably be telling you to stop crying and let the kids go to damn school." Rin says, jokingly. His mother lets out a small laugh, along with his sister. His father had always made his mother laugh. Even though Rin was merely still a baby, he remembers his mother's laughter from downstairs late at night, soothing him and putting him to sleep. Rin smiles and hugs his mother and sister tighter. "I bet he's really proud of you." He finishes, comfortingly. They break from the hug, and Mrs Matsuoka nods slowly, smiling.

"You're right, I'm sorry for getting upset." She says, looking at both of her children. Gou beams up at her mother.

"Don't apologize, mom." Is all Rin says.

Suddenly, the doorbell rings.

"Just in time!" Mrs Matsuoka says, feeling better already. Both children laugh, and Rin gestures for the other two to carry on with breakfast whilst he goes to get the door. Gou stays by her mother's side just a bit longer before doing so. Rin glances up at the clock in the hall.

7:30 AM.

_It must be him._

He opens the door, revealing a tall, toned boy. He wears the same uniform as Rin, green tie too. He has messy olive-green hair, and matching kind green eyes that droop. His shoulders are very wide due to his muscled tone and makes him look kind of scary from behind, especially with his height, but funnily enough, his face is the exact opposite of his body. Cute. His eyes crinkle as he smiles down at Rin.

He always manages to look so innocent.

"Good morning, Rin." He says. His voice is soft and calming, so relaxing. Rin opens the door wider, allowing the boy to step inside.

"Mornin' Makoto." Rin says, shutting the door behind him.

Makoto's entrance livens the Matsuoka household ever so slightly, as there's the sound of a chair moving, and Rin's mother appears at the kitchen doorway, smiling brilliantly.

"Good morning, Makoto!" She chirps.

"Morning! Oh? Mrs Matsuoka, are you okay?” Makoto asks, tilting his head to the side. She in return is caught off guard, immediately going to wipe at her eyes with the back of her hand. But there isn't a trace of a tear.

_How did he know?_

"Oh, yes. I'm fine." She says, a short laugh breaking the awkwardness. "When you have children and you watch them growing into adults, it's a lot to take in." She finishes, grinning at her son who simply rolls his eyes again, feigning a smile.

"Ah, I see what you mean." Makoto replies, smiling comfortingly. Rin raises an eyebrow at him. "Ren and Ran are in their last year of elementary school, so my parents were upset, too."

"Oh, that's right! You have two little siblings, don’t you! Ren and Ran, how are they?" Rin's mom says, a little too excitedly. She beckons both of the boys into the kitchen, both of them following.

"They're very well! They've been looking forward to joining the schools swim club that's about to open, but- Kou! Good morning!" He greets her the minute he sees her, using her preferred name. She smiles back at him.

"Good morning, Makoto-kun!" She says, looking up at the taller boy.

"Well, that's good to hear." Mrs Matsuoka says, taking the used plates and putting them into the sink for washing later.

A calypso ringtone echoes throughout the kitchen, and the three teenagers look at each other amusedly.

"I'm sorry, I have to take this, and I’ll be upstairs if you need me!" Rin's mom suddenly calls out. It's probably a phone call from work. "Oh, Makoto, there's some toast and tea over here. Help yourself to whatever you like." She says, before picking up her phone and leaving the room swiftly.

"Sure, thank you!" Makoto calls after her.

"Swim club, huh?" Rin says, regaining Makoto's attention. He nods, humming. "We didn't have that club at our elementary..."

"We didn't really have many clubs at all..." Makoto says quietly, looking down at the kitchen table. "Oh! That's reminds me. Kou, what club will you be joining at our school?"

Gou chews and swallows the remainder of her second piece of toast, looking up at Makoto with curious eyes.

"Hm? Is it necessary?" She asks. Rin nods, picking up his own piece of toast and taking a bite out of it, before his face screws up in disgust – it’s cold. Unwillingly, he chews it and swallows, clearing his throat afterwards as if nothing happened. However, Gou and Makoto stifle their laughter when Rin turns to dump the toast in the bin.

"Yup. You have to join one. It's another thing to add to your resume, after all. It's good practice of whatever's out there in the world." Rin says, leaning back against the kitchen countertop. "Makoto and I joined the literature club." He finishes on a slightly different tone. "Personally, I hate it."

Gou looks to Makoto for answers, but the older boy only shrugs and gives Rin a sympathetic look.

"...I'm sure it's not that bad!" Makoto says carefully, offering Rin one of his small smiles. "You still attend, so you mustn’t hate it, right?" Rin looks off to the side, out of the patio windows, refusing to look at the other two.

"Tch. It's necessary." Rin says.

"Well... Um... Perhaps there'll be new clubs that we can join opening this year?" Makoto suggests, shrugging his shoulders lightly. Rin inhales loudly.

"Maybe."

Gou clears her throat to rid of any awkwardness in the room, a confused look slowly appearing on her face. She taps her bottom lip in thought, and looks over at her brother.

"Kou, is there something wrong?" Makoto asks, obviously noticing the change in her expression. Rin turns his head in a flash towards his sister, who continues to stare at him weirdly.

"I was just wondering... How come you didn't join the music club?" She asks.

Silence fills the room; Makoto looks to Rin, and Rin looks back at him, with a glint in his eye.

"Simple." Rin says, not taking his eyes off of the olive-haired boy. "There wasn't one." Makoto nods. Rin closes his eyes for a brief moment before standing up to grab his blazer. He pulls the item on, straightens the lapels, and props his elbows back onto the kitchen counter.

There's that awkward feeling again...

"So, um... What about Haruka-kun? What club did he join?" Gou asks, gaining both of the boy's attention.

"Oh, Haru joined the culinary club. He felt it was right for him, since he enjoys cooking. He's always been amazing at making food..." Makoto says.

"Unlike yourself." Rin adds, chuckling to himself. Makoto in turn pouts angrily at Rin and puffs his cheeks out in embarrassment. "Remember that time you almost set Haru's kitchen on fi-"

" _Anyway_!-"

"He's on his own?" Gou interrupts, cocking an eyebrow at both of them.

"Mm." Makoto hums. "But I don't think Haru really likes the culinary club. He always complains about how they won't allow him to add mackerel to his recipes every time." He finishes with an amused smile. Rin laughs through his nose, shaking his head, and even Gou can't hide a snigger.

"Guy won't stop thinking about the damn fish." Rin adds, rolling his eyes with a small smile.

"Speaking of which, where is Haruka-kun?" Gou asks.

Usually of a school morning, Makoto comes over to Rin's house at about 7:30, and the two of them leave to get Haruka. They walk to school from Haruka's house, which only takes about 10-15 minutes. The train is an option, too, but they only get the train if they're running late.

Makoto checks his watch with slight worry. 7:48. They should be fine! Rin hauls himself off of the kitchen counter, motioning to the green-eyed boy towards the door with his head.

"He's at home waiting for us, so we should probably get going." Rin says, Makoto nods. "Gou, are you coming?"

"Oh, no. Chigusa's going to come and pick me up. Her father offered to take us both to school in his car of a morning." She says, remaining seated at the table.

Both Rin and Makoto's faces turn blank.

_No fair._

Gou smirks to herself, pulling out her phone from her pocket. "Pretty small car, sorry guys."

"That's awfully kind of him."

"It's fine."

Both of them are reluctant to say another word, silently bubbling with jealousy.

"Well... See you at school." Rin says, slowly dragging his feet out of the kitchen, Makoto slowly following behind him.

"See you!" Gou sings, not taking her eyes off of her phone. Her smirk deepens when she doesn't hear any movement.

Makoto watches as Rin stares at his sister a moment longer, growls, and then heads towards the door. He takes his bag from the floor and fumbles with the door handle, lowly muttering a string of curse words to himself.

"Have a good day at school, boys!" Mrs Matsuoka calls out from behind them, descending the stairs. The two boys look over their shoulders to give Rin's mom one last grin and goodbye. "Oh, Rin!" She says quickly. "Work just called, Nori-san decided to take today off, so I have to fill in for a couple of her shifts. I won't be home till late."

Rin nods, before opening the door and heading out with Makoto.

He closes the door behind them, and straightens the lapels of his blazer again once he feels the cool April wind on his face. Should he have put a coat on?

"I should have worn my coat." Makoto says, pouting to himself.

"Jeez, do you do that on _purpose_?" Rin says, cocking an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Do what?"

"Read minds."

Makoto chuckles to himself lightly. Almost everybody he knows has said that to him at least once. The two of them begin to walk down Rin's street that leads to the path to the large stairs.

"I'd like to." He admits, shrugging his shoulders. "It’d be fun to know what people were thinking, but then again, I wouldn't want to disrespect them by invading their privacy, so I suppose I wouldn't want to..."

_Innocent as always..._

Rin shakes his head, smirking. "You're far too nice for your own kind."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Makoto asks, looking at Rin questioningly.

"Who knows?" Rin smiles, looking up at the sakura tree that greets him warmly at the end of his street. The petals resume their dance, showering the stairs in front of them.

Sooner or later they reach Haruka's house, after climbing up yet another set of stairs. A small cream-coloured saucer sits outside the door, probably because Haruka had given the stray cats some milk the night before. Incidentally, a small, white kitten makes his presence known by kneading Makoto's leg. The olive-haired boy lets out a small sound, turns to pick the kitten up, and holds and plays with him in his arms. The kitten takes one of Makoto's long fingers and wraps its legs around it, gnawing at the tip.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Rin asks, looking back at Makoto, who smiles lovingly at the animal. He looks back up to Rin after a minute or so and shakes his head.

"I'm used to it."

Rin smiles at the sight, before turning to knock at Haruka's door. He knocks once, twice. But no answer. Sighing inwardly, he takes a couple of steps back and looks up at Haruka's windows. His curtains are open, but he's nowhere to be seen.

"Do you think he left without us?" Rin says, looking at Makoto again, who says something incoherent to the kitten before putting him down on the ground gently, patting his head a couple of times.

"Haru wouldn't leave without us, Rin." Makoto says, knocking at the door himself.

Still nothing.

Rin growls to himself, before getting as close to Haruka's door as he can.

" _Open up! It's the police!_ " He yells, baring his teeth.

"And how many times has that worked?" Makoto says humorously, shaking his head at the red-headed boy.

"Shut up."

"Should we just go around the back?" Makoto asks. Rin pauses before nodding. The two walk around towards the back of the house, careful not to allow the kitten in. Rin takes the door handle with two hands, grasps it tightly in his hand and uses it as leverage to lift up the door and slide it.

"We're coming in!" Rin and Makoto shout in unison, and already they can hear the reason why Haruka didn't answer the door. Rin closes the door behind them. The two of them look at each other, before turning their heads to laugh at themselves.

It's pretty simple. Follow the music, and it will lead you to Haruka. Both Rin and Makoto quickly decide that he isn't downstairs, and they ascend the stairs together. The minor notes become louder. They could simply just call out for him, but they wouldn't want to interrupt him.

Plus, he's pretty talented.

Walking down the hall towards his bedroom where he most likely is, both boys were taking their time anonymously listening in to the pure elegance of Haruka's slow song. Rin inhaled strongly; he had never heard somebody turn such a simple instrument into a work of art.

Reluctantly, Makoto checks his watch again. 7:56. He urges Rin to hurry, both of them picking up their pace a little. They reach his bedroom door, being as quiet as they can. Rin inwardly sighs, again. He doesn't want the song to end. Makoto brings up a hand, and knocks on the door, not too hard.

The song abruptly comes to an end as Makoto slowly pushes the door open.

"Good morning, Haru-chan!" Makoto says with a closed-eye smile. Rin follows in after him, puffing through his nose amusedly at the sight in front of them. The usual.

Haruka stares up at them in annoyance, his blue electric guitar propped up on one knee, fingers still in position.

"Drop the -chan." Is all he says before lifting the guitar's strap up over his head. He switches off the amplifier, unplugs his guitar and stands up to carry the instrument to its stand in the corner of his room. The sunlight from his window shines down onto it, causing the royal blue gradient to stand out.

"What song was that?" Rin asks. Haru simply shrugs, turning to collect his bag from beside the bed.

"I made it up."

"That's amazing, Haru!" Makoto says elatedly. Haru doesn't see the amazement that Makoto does, but he's grateful for it, anyway.

"Not really." Haru says, heading out of his room without notifying the others. They follow him nonetheless.

"Well, at least you're dressed..." Rin says. Haru nods.

He takes them down the stairs towards the end of the hall, not taking them to the kitchen like he usually does to make his daily fix of mackerel, and plops himself onto the step. Throwing on his shoes quickly, he stands back up and opens the door.

"This may just be the quickest we've ever got him out of his house." Makoto murmurs to himself, Rin catches on and silently agrees.

"Hey, you're quick this morning. Eager to get to school?" Rin says with a smirk. Haru half glares at him.

"The quicker I get there, the quicker I can get home." Haru replies.

"And that makes sense... How?"

"Shut up. You know what I mean."

The three leave Haru's house, each without a coat, deciding to take the beach route to school.

"What took you so long?" Haru asks out of the blue. Rin and Makoto, who stand either side of him, look across at each other. Did they take long? It's then when Rin remembers.

"Oh, uh... My sister is starting our school today, so she wanted to know a few things." Rin says. He wonders if Gou is currently on her way to school in Chigusa's _fancy ass car._

"Kou, right?" Haru asks.

" _It's_ \- Kou, yeah, Kou." Rin says, her sister would probably prefer it if he called her Kou.

"Where is she?"

Rin frowns.

"She's getting a lift in Chigusa-san's car."

"Oh." Is all Haru says. He doesn't seem to be bothered by the fact that they have to walk. In fact, he would prefer to walk. Cars are annoying. They're costly and limit your movements. Plus with walking, he gets to admire the beach.

"So, do you think we'll all be in the same class this year?" Makoto asks. Last year, both he and Haru were in class 1-2, whilst Rin was in class 1-1. The whole year consisted of waiting for each other after classes.

"Ugh. Hopefully." Rin snarls. "I don't wanna spend _another_ year being stuck with Shigino. He's even more annoying than Haru."

" _Oi_."

Makoto laughs to himself.

They make it to school for about 8:20, and immediately begin recognizing faces. Both second years and first years cover the school grounds. First years are far too easy to spot; they have their ties almost choking them, and every strap on their bag is fastened, or more realistically, tied to their bodies. It's almost laughable how noticeable they are. Rin scans the crowd looking for his sister, but she is nowhere to be found.

_Where the hell is she?_

"I can't see Kou anywhere..." Makoto mutters.

"Would you _stop doing that_!?" Rin cries out, causing Makoto to chuckle to himself.

He turns back to the cluster of teenagers, looking for a red-haired girl. C'mon. It's almost half past. She has to be here. _Oh no_. What if they're stuck in traffic? What if there's... Been a cr-

"Rin." Haru's calm voice snaps him out of his worried daze. "Relax. There she is." Haru looks over at her, waiting for her to notice his staring. Rin sighs in relief. Gou turns around, and sees them, smiling brightly before waving at them. Rin and Makoto smile, Makoto waves back, and Haru just continues to stare.

That's when the school's bell rings, and reminds them all of one thing. Opening assembly.

Rin groans. These things go on forever.

"Okay, Class 2-1!" One of the teachers call out. She steps out from the group of teachers, and Rin recognizes her as Miss Amakata, his homeroom teacher from last year. She begins to call out a list of names, in alphabetical order. The three boys are quick to notice that students are moving classes. Rin looks at both Haruka and Makoto hopefully.

"Matsuoka Rin." That's his queue. He gives his friends a worried smile before going off to his line. He stands behind the person he stood behind last year. He thinks, after M is the letter N so maybe-

"Nanase Haruka." Yes! Rin inwardly cheers. Oh, but what about Makoto? He hears Haru coming up behind him, turning his head to smile at him over his shoulder. Haru glances up at him, before the two of them look back at Makoto, who wears a small frown on his face.

"He'll be with us." Rin whispers to Haru, loud enough for him to hear over their teacher's voice. "I know it."

Haru nods.

"Tachibana Makoto."

Makoto lets out a small squeak of surprise, smiling to himself as he walks over to class 2-1's line. He isn't anywhere near Rin or Haru, but at least he isn't alone.

"I told you." Rin whispers again.

The next name is the name of a new student.

"Yamazaki Sousuke."

Rin freezes.

... _Sousuke_? There's only one Yamazaki Sousuke he knows, but he moved to Tokyo a couple years ago. Could he be back? No... He couldn't be...

Rin takes a tiny glance over his shoulder. His eyes widen.

He is.

"Who is it?" Haru asks, monotone as ever.

"Somebody I know." Rin says, turning back around. He can't believe it.

"Good or bad?" Haru continues.

"Good..." Rin pauses, speaking quietly, his eyes still wide. "Good."

Makoto's never heard the name either, so when he feels a presence behind him, he gulps. The shadow on the ground is taller than his own, meaning that he's taller than him. Makoto has never met anybody taller than himself before. His shadow looks kinda bulky, too. Makoto looks at the shadow a little while longer, as Miss Amakata calls out the last remaining names, and he's decided that this 'Yamazaki Sousuke' is absolutely terrifying.

Something snaps inside of him, and he looks back over his shoulder.

And _oh my god_ was he wrong.

Yamazaki looks back at him, and his pure teal eyes are all Makoto needs to know that something has definitely snapped inside of him. His lips form a tight frown, kind of like Haru's natural expression, his chin is sturdy, and his eyebrows are thick. His hair is a dark brown colour, short and clean. His skin is tanned, not too much, just the right colour. But his _eyes_ -

"Turn around." He says. Makoto quickly comes back down to earth, and does as he's told. But before he can even start thinking about his _voice_ , he notices the gap between himself and the person in front of him -- who's entering the building.

"Oh!" Makoto squeaks again, and quickly hurries toward the building.

He is an embarrassment to this world.

He hasn't even introduced himself and he's annoyed him already. But then again, he wasn't very mean about it. He didn't say something like " _It's rude to stare, you know_ " or " _What are you looking at?_ " So maybe he has a chance.

_Wait. What?_

Makoto shakes every thought from his head, and sits himself down on the bench.

Once every student is inside the hall and seated, the assembly begins. Each teacher comes to the stage and introduces themselves, their class and where their homeroom is located.

Makoto struggles to pay attention. He glances to his left, where Rin and Haru sit, looking up toward the stage obediently, but he doesn't _dare_ look to his right. No way. As much as he wants to, he can't and absolutely will not bring himself to take just one more look at that face.

This is going to be a long day.


	2. New Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...*slowly slides into view.* 
> 
> Hey! Finally, the second chapter of EB!IMC is here. I apologise for the rather long wait, as my laptop is going through repair. 
> 
> I'm kinda excited to post this chapter, since I worked hard on it. So I hope you all enjoy it!

 

  
There are two things Rin cannot believe have happened today.  
  
The first thing being that Haruka and Makoto have managed to pull themselves up into class 2-1, and the three of them can finally relax. It’s not that unbelievable, but it beats being on your own. Shigino isn’t in this class either, which takes a huge weight off of Rin’s back. Thank God.  
  
The second thing, stands at the front of their new classroom, waiting to be introduced.  
  
“Good morning everybody! And welcome to class 2-1! I recognise some of you from last year, but there are some new faces here, too.” Miss Amakata says cheerfully. The class all join together with a mixed chorus of “good morning” before allowing her to continue. “You may have noticed it on the board, but my name is Miho Amakata, and I will be your new homeroom teacher. You may have also noticed not only another name, but a new student stood here.” She says with a smile, gesturing a hand at the boy. “This is Yamazaki Sousuke-kun, who’s transferred here all the way from Tokyo!” The room is completely silent. All eyes are on Sousuke, but his eyes are set on one person in particular, a smirk playing on his lips.  
  
Rin can only stare back in disbelief.  
  
Sat diagonally behind Rin is Makoto, who tries his best not to look at him. He pretends to be particularly interested in the small etchings that have been carved into his desk; initials, crude drawings, and hearts.  
  
“Yamazaki-kun, there are a few empty seats dotted around the room. Feel free to choose any of them as yours.” She continues sweetly. Sousuke nods, muttering a quiet thank you before his eyes glance over the empty seats.  
  
He’s quick to choose.  
  
At that exact moment, Makoto decides to lift his head up. Bad move. The seat in front of him is empty. Lifting his eyes up from said seat, he’s met with the new student walking over to that exact seat.  
_  
So much for not staring._  
  
Makoto watches the taller boy head towards the desk in front of him, his mouth slowly opening as the light from the windows illuminates Sousuke’s handsome face when he walks past them.  
  
_Hold on-_  
  
Sousuke looks back at him for a split second, and he’s lost again. The dark-haired boy turns around and drops down into the seat in front of him.  
  
_Alright, pull yourself together Makoto, you’re looking creepy._  
  
Before Sousuke can even turn and say a word to the still-in-shock Rin, Miss Amakata lets out a small yelp of surprise, snapping everybody’s head towards the front.  
  
“Oh dear!” She cries, looking down at the short stacks of paper on her desk. “I thought I’d have enough of these sheets to go around, but by the looks of it, there aren’t many at all!” Pouting, she lifts up the few sheets and files through them. “And I thought I wouldn’t mess up this year.” She mutters quietly.  
  
There’s an awkward tension in the room as nobody has any idea of what to say.  
  
“I suppose I’ll have to go and collect a couple more from the teaching office. Whilst I’m gone, there is a sheet on your desk that I’d like you to fill out. It isn’t much; just home address details, any phone numbers and emergency details. Just in case any of you have moved home or have any new numbers.” Miss Amakata says, as the class look down at said sheet. “I won’t be long, so try to keep the noise down.” Is the last thing she says before leaving the room. The minute she leaves, the class bursts out into chatter.  
  
Both Sousuke and Rin turn around to each other at the exact same time.  
  
“Yo.” Sousuke says with a small laugh.  
  
Both Makoto and Haruka watch as Rin leans over slightly, raising a fist. Makoto gulps in horror, his green irises shrinking. Is he going to hit him? He can’t look.  
  
Instead, Sousuke also raises a fist, and the two break out into some sort of handshake. It starts with a slap, a strange movement of the arms and finally a fist bump.  
  
_Oh._  
  
The two boys immediately begin to laugh as soon as the handshake is over.  
  
Haruka and Makoto have never seen him around before, so how does Rin know him? The questions gather in their heads.  
  
“Sousuke! It’s been so long!” Rin says, a smile slowly breaking out onto his face.  
  
“I know, at least 5 years, right?” Sousuke replies, smiling back at him. Haruka attempts to anonymously play close attention to their conversation, whilst Makoto dwells in the deep tones of Sousuke’s voice.  
  
 He knows he told himself to stop, but he just can’t help it.  
  
“Yeah, but… Well, not to be rude or anything but, why are you here?” Rin asks, raising an eyebrow.  
  
Five years ago, Rin had transferred to Australia, leaving Sousuke before he moved to Tokyo three years later. He had also told Sousuke about his ambition of becoming a musician, to which the boy replied;  
  
_“Do what you will to become what you want.”_  
  
Rin has never forgotten those words.  
  
“Well, my family and I moved back from Tokyo. My dad decided to reopen his business down by Samezuka, and I figured you’d be here so…”  
  
 “Oh. Luckily you found me, huh? I’m glad.” Rin says, flashing his signature sharp-toothed smile. "So how was Tokyo?"  
  
Sousuke shrugs his shoulders. "Eh, it was alright. Not as scenic as Iwatobi, and traffic was hell, but I guess the people were pretty cool." He finishes, earning small laughter from Rin. "So what about you? Get any closer to becoming-"  
  
“ _Ah_! I should probably introduce you to my friends.” Rin says suddenly. Makoto lifts up his head. Rin leans back in his seat, twisting his body around slightly to face the two behind him.  
  
Sousuke frowns. _Why did he avoid the question?  
_  
"Guys, this is Sousuke. We were close friends whilst I lived in Samezuka, before I transferred to Iwatobi. We went to the same elementary before I came here." Rin says with a smile, jerking a thumb towards Sousuke, who glances at the two boys for a moment before focusing particularly on Haruka.  
  
_That's him. A cool attitude and eyes as clear as water._  
  
"Rin's told me about you before." He says, looking deep into Haruka's blue eyes.  
  
Haruka in reply doesn't move, staring right back at him.  
  
"Yeah, this is Haruka Nanase-"  
  
"Just Haru." The boy says, earning a small tut from Rin.  
  
 "He's the quiet type, he doesn't say much, but he's a good guy nonetheless." Rin says, looking at Haru. There's so much about him that he could tell Sousuke. "He's also an amazing gui-"  
  
"I can speak for myself." Haru spits with a small scowl. Rin looks surprised for a moment, before turning back around to face Sousuke.  
  
"He's also kind of an asshole..."  
  
" _Oi_.”  
  
Before Rin can even get a chance to face Makoto, the door creaks, and Miss Amakata appears again.  
  
Makoto gives a little pout. He was kinda looking forward to what Rin had to say about him, but then again, she had saved him from the embarrassment of introducing himself.  
  
“Ah, sorry about that!” She says, waving the new sheets in the air. “These are a few school notices, they’re mainly changes to timetables and the usual school rules, but there are also a few notices about new clubs that will be opening too. I’ll go into more details about those when they’re handed out.” She finishes, handing them down to a student sat at the front to be passed out.  
  
Rin freezes. He and Makoto were talking about this this morning. New clubs? What could there possibly be to add? There are already enough sports clubs, and any more clubs like the Literature club would be hell. Culture clubs are quite popular these days, and perhaps language clubs could be opening.  
  
He doesn’t even let the thought that there could be a music club cross his mind. Instead, he thinks about how maybe Haru has convinced the school to finally open a mackerel club.  
  
Rin tries to hide a slight snicker, but manages to catch Sousuke’s attention.  
  
“What’s funny?” Sousuke whispers. Rin looks back at him with a small smirk, shaking his head.  
  
Sooner or later, the sheet appears on his desk. At first, he’s tense to read it, but then figures he should since Miss Amakata is about to read them out anyway.  
  
“Alright, so as you all should know, I’m required to read through everything on this sheet.” She says, holding up said piece of paper. “At the start of your school year, it’s necessary so that all of you are certain about your school’s rules." However, she places the sheet back down on the desk, and picks up a different one. "But before we read through, let's do a register."  
  
She clears her throat as she takes a quick look through said register, reading over names old and new. She pauses to smile before she begins.  
  
Rin inwardly sighs. Here we go.  
  
"Okay, Miss Adachi Risa."  
  
"Here."  
  
"Mr Akamine Tsuji."  
  
"Here."  
  
The list goes on. As she descends the names, Rin hopes to himself that she doesn't repeat last year's introduction. He chews his lower lip, staying rigid in his seat, as she nears his name.  
  
"Miss Koizumi Jun."  
  
"Here."  
  
Miss Amakata stops for a moment, causing Rin to look up, anxiety slowly consuming him. She smiles.  
  
_Not again._  
  
"Now, how many of you here have ever heard of Toraichi Matsuoka?"  
  
Rin clenches his eyes shut, lowering his head.  
  
_Why?_  
  
The newer additions to Class 2-1 mutter to each other, nodding. Of course they know who Toraichi Matsuoka is.  
  
"Well, you may be surprised to know that his own _son_ attends this school."  
  
A couple of quiet gasps echo around the classroom. Their curious eyes scan the room, attempting to identify the child.  
  
"Mr Matsuoka Rin."  
  
Rin sighs through his nose before opening his mouth.  
  
"Here." He almost whispers.  
  
As soon as the word leaves his mouth, at least a third of the class turn towards him. The sun beams down through the window, ironically casting an earthly spotlight upon Rin. It gives his hair a healthy, sparkling glow.  
  
The rest of the class already know who he is, as they spent their first year with him.  
  
They don't pay him any attention at all.  
  
It seems as if Miss Amakata has given the students a moment to admire their class' small fame, as Rin holds his head down, for what feels like forever. He's unable to bring himself to look at them, but he does however hear the small voices of the new students.  
  
_"Is that really his son?"  
  
"I don't believe it!"_  
  
Sousuke however looks at Rin, his brows furrowing confusedly.  
  
Why is he reacting this way? Rin would usually be cocky about something like that...  
  
Something must have happened whilst I was gone.  
  
Rin half-glares into his desk. Is Gou going to get this, too?  
  
Amakata takes a worried note of Rin's reaction, as she hurriedly looks back down at the register. She doesn't continue though, as the next name strikes her completely.  
  
"Um... Miss Nanase Haruka?"  
  
The frown on Rin's face disappears completely as he, along with the students who used to be in class 1-2, burst into laughter. As he laughs, he hears the quiet mutters again.  
  
_"He really is!"  
  
"He has the teeth!"_  
  
The moment he hears them, his mouth snaps shut.  
  
Makoto panics slightly, leaning over slightly towards Haruka at his left, raising a hand.  
  
"Um... Miss Amakata, Haru is a boy!" He says, loud enough to catch her attention. She looks at Makoto in shock, then at Haruka.  
  
"Oh goodness, you're right!" She says with a slight gasp. "I'm so sorry, Nanase-kun!"  
  
Haruka doesn't say anything back. Instead, he just stares at the back of Rin's head, also wondering why he reacted that way.  
  
The role call is soon over, and Miss Amakata finally picks up the new sheet.  
  
"Alright, so as you all know, I'm required to read through everything on this sheet," she says, holding up said piece of paper. "At the start of your school year, it's necessary so that all of you are certain about your school's rules. So let's start with the uniform rules." She clears her throat before beginning. "All second years should be wearing a green tie, rather than the red one you wore last year." Almost the entire class groan. They can read these for themselves.  
  
Haruka looks around the classroom suspiciously, pausing to make sure that Miss Amakata is completely focused on the sheet, before fishing around in his blazer pocket, and slipping  out a small silver MP3 player of some sort – it’s the one Rin had gotten him for his birthday. He reaches into the inside pocket, and takes out a pair of earphones, plugging them in immediately.  
  
Makoto watches in worried curiosity as Haruka lifts up the waistband of his pants, and slides the small MP3 player underneath them, resting it on the bare skin of his thigh.  
  
It takes Makoto a second to catch on to Haruka’s antics.  
  
Taking the two earbuds into one hand, he untucks his shirt a little, and slips his hand under.  He pushes the earbuds up his chest up his chest and down through his sleeve, making it look like he simply has an itch from the outside. Lifting his arm out slightly, he shakes it a little - not enough to make it noticeable, and sure enough, the two earbuds pop out of the end of Haruka’s blazer sleeve in his palm.  
  
Clever.  
  
The rest of the class aren’t exactly paying attention to Miss Amakata either, the majority rushing to fill in the emergency details sheet that they were supposed to do earlier. Thus includes both Sousuke and Rin. Makoto however, being who he is, desperately tries to pay attention. He managed to fill in the sheet as Haruka was being introduced. But it’s becoming quite a struggle to focus due to the ongoing tapping of Haruka’s foot against the table stand. Hopefully, their teacher is more intrigued in reading out well known rules than to be distracted by Haruka’s metronome. Makoto lets out a short sigh through his nose before looking over at the boy, hoping to catch his attention, but instead Haruka closes his eyes - slowly allowing the music to take over him.  
  
Makoto swallows thickly. He can’t let Haruka into his zone.  
  
It starts with the earphones – he seems to have a new pair every week. Whether he wears them out until they break or he collects them, he’s asked both of his friends for new pairs plenty of times. He always manages to sneak his MP3 player to school, and has his music playing at a medium volume, so that nobody else can hear it. The foot tapping is next, you’ll hear it usually twenty seconds after he’s succeeded in applying his earphones. When Haruka closes his eyes, you know he’s close to getting in his zone.  
  
It won't be long until he completely loses himself.  
  
The majority of the songs on Haruka’s MP3 player are either a moderate tempo or upbeat, so it’s not hard to figure out which song he’s listening to. There isn’t a wide variety of genres either.  
  
Ever since he was introduced to it, Haruka's favourite genre of music has always been rock. There's just something about the strong guitar riffs, the deep bass lines, the enthusiastic drumming and energising keyboard notes that make him feel so... Fired up. And nobody could ever forget the sparkle in his blue eyes the first time he heard a guitar solo. Haruka had never shown interest in wanting to play an instrument, but once he had heard it, he knew that he wanted to be a guitarist.  
  
Makoto bites his tongue, waiting for the boy to start bobbing his head, praying to himself that Haruka will catch on to his staring, and stop.  
  
Luckily, Haruka's eyes suddenly snap open, his head moving back slightly. He lifts his head from his hand, and quietly inspects his earphones for a brief moment before placing his head back down. Makoto smiles to himself when Haruka quickly displays a small scowl. He lifts his head once more, scowling down at the earbuds, shaking his hand a little, and once again laying his head back down.  
  
For Makoto, the remainder of homeroom is spent trying not to laugh at Haruka's angrily quiet attempts at fixing his earphones.  
  
"Rin." Haru says, leaning over his desk slightly as they wait for their first period teacher to enter the room.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Give me your earphones."  
  
Rin looks back at the raven over his shoulder, one eyebrow cocked at him.  
  
"What do you mean, _'give me your earphones'_?"  
  
"I said, give me your earphones. I want to borrow them."  
  
Rin fully turns around to Haruka in his seat, his face showing annoyance.  
  
"What's wrong with _your_ earphones?" He almost spits.  
  
"They're broken." Haruka says with a shrug. Rin's thin eyebrows lower over his eyes.  
  
"Again?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"...Did you take them in the bath again-"  
  
"No."  
  
There's a small pause as the two bickering boys glare at each other, before Rin rolls his eyes again, tutting as he reaches into his blazer pocket.  
  
"You are the worst liar ever." Rin mutters under his breath, handing his grey earphones over to Haruka. He takes them and immediately begins the process of wiring them through his clothes.  
  
Firstly, he unplugs the broken earphones, making a quick show of removing them. Rin is about to turn back around, but instead, his eyes catch sight of Haruka lifting up the waistband of his pants, sliding Rin's earphones under.  
  
He's stopped by a shrill voice, however.  
  
" _What the hell are you doing!?_ "  
  
"Putting your earphones in."  
  
"Putting them in _where_!?"  
  
"In my MP3 player."  
  
Rin looks him straight in the eyes. Haruka however is his usual deadpan. He reaches under his pants to show Rin the MP3 player, the silver catching a glint in the sun.  
  
"Don't look at me like that." Haruka says, frowning at Rin who still stares at him unbelievably.  
  
"I'm allowed to be a little concerned if everything I'm giving you is going in your pants!"  
  
Makoto can't hide his laughter this time.  
  
Rin watches, a hand covering his mouth, as Haruka goes through the whole "Operation - Don't let the teachers know I'm not listening to them" scheme. Rin's eyes shrink in size the further along it goes. When it's over, Haruka shows Rin the two grey earbuds that he holds in his palm, before putting one in his ear and resting his head in his hand again.  
  
It feels good to hear the music.  
  
Rin looks at Makoto, who's trying to keep his laughter quiet, for answers.  
  
"Does he always do this?" He says, a little breathless. Makoto nods.  
  
"Mm. I noticed it the first time he did it, but I didn't say anything. I didn't want to come between him and his music." Makoto says gently, like it's an acceptable thing to do. Rin doesn't say anything back to him, turning back towards Haruka.  
  
"Haru, you _need_ to pay attention in school!" He almost yells.  
  
"Whatever."  
  
Rin growls, turning towards Sousuke; who's been watching the two intensely the whole time.  
  
"See what I mean by 'kind of an asshole'?" He hisses. Haru lifts his head up, taking out the earbud for a moment.  
  
"Call me that one more time and you won't get them back."  
  
" _Keep 'em_! They've been rubbed all over your damn body, you think I want them back!?" Rin says, trying hard not to lose his temper at the nonchalant boy. He turns back around to face the front, sulking in his seat.  
  
That's the third thing Rin can't believe has happened today.  
_  
They were my good pair, too..._  
  
"...Thank you."  
  
" _Shut up_."  
  
As much as he wants to grin at the current situation, Sousuke can't even bring himself to even smile. Rin's reaction to being called out as Toraichi Matsuoka's son has stricken him.  
  
The first two periods of lessons are over almost as soon as they begin. They're mainly just about getting to know their new teachers and going over the course of the subject. The first lesson is English. Something that Rin is good at, but Haruka and Makoto, not so much; Haruka rarely pays attention and Makoto genuinely struggles to speak the language. Rin, being fluent, does his best to help both of them, seeing tiny improvements from Makoto, but Haruka refuses, every time. The second was of course, maths. Haruka's least favourite. Maths meant he had to take out his earphones and actually do some physical work. Rin had also proven to be good at this, too.  
  
Haruka usually makes progress in lessons that he has at the end of the day - when his MP3 player battery is dead.  
  
Lunch comes around quickly. The trio return to their normal spot, on the roof, glad to see that none of the first years have taken it. They sit themselves down quickly, and Makoto instantly opens his bag, pulling out two containers; his bento box, and a simple plastic container.  
  
Rin invites Sousuke to sit with them, much to Makoto's reluctance. It's not that he doesn't like Sousuke, he just feels... Something strange that's hard to put into words.  
  
They sit in a semi-circle, with Haru against the wall -- Makoto sits to his left, whilst Rin and Sousuke are to his right - thank God. From the two containers, Makoto opens the smaller of the two first. Inside of it are three long pieces of grilled squid that his mother had made for him, wrapped in silver foil. He takes one and hands it to Haruka, and does the same for Rin, who receives it with a "thank you" unlike Haruka. He takes the third and final grilled squid, looking down at its shiny wrapper before looking up at Sousuke, who watches the other two boys unwrap their food quickly, eager to taste the meat.  
  
Now that he's closer, Makoto can finally get a good look at him. If he didn't know that Rin was a good friend if his, he probably would have thought of Sousuke as scary looking. But knowing that he's close with one of his best friends puts that thought at ease.  
  
"Um..." He says quite quietly. He doesn't catch Sousuke's attention, so he clears his throat and speaks up a little louder. However, this brings the attention of all three of them.  
  
Makoto looks at his two friends individually for a short moment, before looking back at Sousuke again. He tries to divert his eyes from Sousuke's as he thrusts out the final wrapped squid. Both Rin and Haruka watch in stunned silence.  
  
"Here." He says quietly, holding out the food to him. Sousuke looks at him for a second longer, and then down at the offering. Makoto looks closely at his face, his lips form a slight frown. He looks conflicted whether to take it or not.  
  
Another few awkward seconds pass, and Sousuke reaches out to take the food from him. Makoto swears he felt Sousuke's hand touching his own for a second.  
  
_Soft._  
  
"Thank you..." He mutters, loud enough for the three of him to hear.  
  
Rin rushes to swallow the remainder of his squid, eager to say something.  
  
"Oh yeah!" Rin suddenly says, sitting up straight and turning everybody's attention towards him. "I never got the chance to introduce you." He continues, pausing to lick his fingers. "Sousuke, this is Makoto Tachibana. He's a kind and sweet guy."  
  
Makoto feels a little bit of embarrassment from Rin's introduction, he’s been known as the “Kind and sweet guy” all his life. Sousuke stares him down for a short moment, closes his eyes and bows his head in the slightest.  
  
“It’s nice to meet you.” Makoto says, giving the taller boy his famous crinkled-eye smile.  
  
“You too.” Is all Sousuke says to him. He unwraps the food offered to him slowly, careful not to get any of the juices on him. Makoto watches him as he picks up the squid with two hands, he bites into it, chewing slowly to savour the flavour.  
  
No comment.  
  
_Does it taste bad?_  
  
The questions and worries pile up in his head; what a great first impression this is. Giving him bad food.  
  
However, Sousuke takes another bite into it, and Makoto questions himself why he even worried over the taste of his mother’s cooking in the first place. He sighs in relief as the three of his friends eat in peace.  
  
Haruka and Rin take out their bento boxes around the same time, lifting up the lid to reveal their lunches. Haruka opts for his usual, a mound of rice with two mackerel pieces thrown on top. He never adds any vegetables or meat to his lunch, just the same old thing every day. Rin reveals a more healthier, balanced meal; a smaller, more reasonable pile of rice, some meat pieces – preferably beef, and a side of vegetables.  
  
Makoto and Rin aren’t the only ones who notice the faults in Haruka’s lunch, as Sousuke looks at it questioningly, too.  
  
“Is that all you’re eating?” He asks Haruka once he swallows the last mouthful of grilled squid. Haruka looks up from his meal at Sousuke, a hint of a glower on his lips.  
  
“What’s wrong with mackerel?” Haruka says, slightly offended. One of Sousuke’s eyebrows raise slowly, his frown deepening.  
  
“Nothing’s wrong with it, I just think you should give your lunch a little more variety.” Sousuke replies, not taking his eyes off of the raven.  
  
Haruka doesn’t say anything back, choosing to return to his favourite meal instead. Rin and Makoto look to him, and then at Sousuke, sensing a cold tension.  
  
“That’s all he ever eats…” The two of them say in unison.  
  
Before Sousuke has a chance to even open his mouth, a small female voice calls out from behind the four.  
  
“ _Sousuke-kun_!”  
  
All of them turn towards the voice, only to be greeted with Gou, jogging across the roof with Chigusa shyly following behind.  
  
“Kou!” Sousuke calls out, a small smile on his face. As she reaches the group, the four stand up to greet her. “It’s been a while, huh?”  
  
Gou nods excitedly.  
  
“Mm! I haven’t seen you since we went to different middle schools!” She says. So Gou knew him too? Makoto and Haruka listen in on their conversation again.  
  
“Well then, I apologise.” Sousuke says amusedly. Gou smiles at him, before turning to her brother.  
  
“How’s your first day going?” Rin asks. Gou’s ears perk up slightly.  
  
“I love it! My homeroom teacher is so nice, and I’ve made a few friends already!” Gou chirps. “Are you all in the same class this year?”  
  
The four nod.  
  
“That’s so cool!” She sings.  
  
“What class are you in, Kou?” Makoto asks. She scratches behind her neck for a moment before replying.  
  
“Heh… 1-2.” Gou replies quietly, looking away from the quartet. Makoto beams up at her.  
  
“Hey, that’s okay! Me and Haru were in that class last year, and we managed to move up this year!” Makoto says warmingly.  
  
“I guess you’re right, Makoto-kun.”  
  
Rin smiles up at his sister.  
  
“Oh, Gou, Are you walking home with us?” Rin asks, hoping for the answer he wants.  
  
When Gou shakes her head, the smirk completely disappears from his face for the second time today.  
  
“Chigusa’s fath-“  
  
“Taking you home, yeah I get it. Well since you’ll probably be home before me, you can start on dinner.” Rin says, smirking to himself.  
  
“No fair!” She cries out. Makoto chuckles to himself as Sousuke smiles, but Haruka still remains interested in his food.  
  
The rest of the school day flies by pretty quickly as it’s their first. Haruka spends the last period trying to remember what lessons he’s missed out on, as his MP3 player’s battery has given out on him.  
  
When the bell rings, Haruka lets out a sigh of relief.  
  
It takes the other three a couple of minutes to pack away their papers into their bags, but Haruka simply shoves the untouched sheets into his. He’ll fill them out later -- Makoto will probably let him copy his.  
  
“Oh, Sousuke? How are you getting home?” Rin asks once they leave the classroom.  
  
“I’m taking the train down to Samezuka. You walk home, right?” Sousuke says, turning on his heel to walk in the opposite direction. Rin nods.  
  
“Yeah.” He says, stepping forward to fist-bump Sousuke one more time before saying goodbye. “See you tomorrow, yeah?”  
  
“Yeah. See ya.” With that, Sousuke turns around and exits the hallway, without saying a word to either Makoto or Haruka.  
  
"Well, since clubs aren't back on until Thursday, do you wanna go and grab something to eat?" Rin asks after a short silence. The other two boys nod in agreement before making a move.  
  
They make a quick decision to just pick something up from the corner shop, since Rin doesn't want to leave Gou on her own for long. Their mother is working after hours, after all.  
  
Despite it being April, the sun seems to beat down on the three boys not so harshly, but still enough to make small beads of perspiration pepper their faces.  
  
It's a good thing I didn't bring a coat, Rin thinks to himself. Makoto, on the other side of Haruka, looks at Rin over the smaller's head. A little smirk slowly begins to grow on his face.  
  
"I'm actually kinda glad I didn't bring my coat now." Makoto says amusedly, watching as Rin blinks a couple of times out of shock.  
  
"Makoto I _swear to God_..."  
  
Makoto simply laughs it off.  
  
As it's unusually hot, the three decide to buy ice creams, each of them buying their favourites. Rin buys a simple cola flavoured ice, they've been his favourite ever since he was a child, and he's always chose them despite him losing them to Sousuke over a bet a few times. Makoto buys a double bubblegum ice, pulling the two sides apart and handing the other half to Haruka. He pays everytime, even when Haruka offers to buy it.  
  
The rest of the journey home is spent in silence as the three eat their frozen beverages. It isn't long until they reach the stairs that lead to Haruka's house. They sit on the bottom step to finish their cold snack, before getting up and saying their goodbyes.  
  
"Well, I'll see you later...." Haruka almost mutters. His friends nod and grin at him.  
  
"See you later!" They both say, waving Haruka off as he slowly climbs the stairs.  
  
" _Have fun with my earphones_..." Rin growls under his breath. His breath hitches when Haruka looks back over his shoulder, staring him right in the eyes.  
  
"I will." He says, turning back around and disappearing up the stairs. Rin lets out a small tut as Makoto chuckles to himself.  
  
"Here, Rin. You can have mine. They're clean, I promise." Makoto says once Haruka has gone, reaching into his inside pocket.  
  
"No no, it's fine. I'll go and buy myself a new pair later." Rin replies, rather pleadingly. Makoto shakes his head.  
  
"No. It's my fault he broke them in the first place. If I would have just convinced him to not use them for so long in class then-"  
  
"Seriously, Makoto. It's fine. And stop being so nice about everything." Rin says, overpowering Makoto's voice, but mumbling the last part. Makoto hears him however, and puts the earphones back into his pocket.  
  
They turn towards the large steps, still covered with small, rosy sakura petals, and climb them in unison. Rin admires the scenery in peace, as Makoto thinks of something else to say.  
  
"I didn't know you and Yamazaki-kun were friends." He says timidly, but attracts Rin's full attention nonetheless.  
  
"Ah, yeah." Rin says with a smile. "Before I moved to Iwatobi in sixth grade, Sousuke and I attended Sano elementary." He continues, looking up ahead with a faint grin on his face.  
  
"And then...?" Makoto pushes, eager to hear more about Sousuke.  
  
"Well, you know how it goes." Rin says, laughing a little. "I moved to Australia after our final year in elementary, but Sousuke moved to Tokyo near the end of middle school. Before I left, my mom used to take me to Sousuke's house on the train. She would sit and have tea with his parents whilst we were probably in his garage pretending to be rock stars or something." He says, choking the last bit out through soft laughter.  
  
"Oh, did Yamazaki-kun play an instrument, too?" Makoto asks. He pictures him in his head. What instrument would he suit? Would he be a drums kinda guy? No, with arms like that he'd have to at least play a string instrument.  
  
When he's finished thinking about what kind of instrument Sousuke would play, it occurs to Makoto that Rin has stopped talking, meaning that he missed the answer.  
  
"...The what?" Makoto says confusedly, turning his head towards Rin.  
  
"I said he doesn't play anything." Rin replies, cocking an eyebrow at the taller boy.  
  
"Oh..." Makoto whispers. That's odd. "We could have all had respective instruments." He finishes with a light smile.  
  
"Yeah..." Rin replies, slightly cold.  
  
They reach Rin's house first, and seeing that the curtains are pulled back, Gou is home, too. Well of course she is. She took the quicker way home.  
  
"See ya later, Makoto!" Rin pipes up, loud enough for both Makoto and hopefully Gou to hear.  
  
"Mm! See you later!" The taller says, waving before turning to walk the rest of the journey alone. He doesn't mind though. He uses it as his personal alone time.  
  
Rin reaches his front door, his fingers searching the entirety of his pocket. They don't touch anything stiff or metal.  
  
"Shit..." Rin mutters to himself. He must have forgotten his keys on the way out. He sighs through his nose before reaching up to knock at the door.  
  
It opens almost instantly.  
  
"Onii-chan, are you joining?" Gou suddenly asks, looking a lot livelier than usual.  
  
"Welcome home to you, too." Rin scowls, stepping into his house and taking off his blazer almost immediately. He goes to hang it up, but he's stopped by his somewhat energised sibling.  
  
"Are you?" She asks again, wine eyes full of wonder. Rin looks down at her, raising an eyebrow for what feels like the 100th time today.  
  
"Am I what?-"  
  
"Joining the club!" Gou says even louder. This does catch Rin off guard, though.  
  
"...What club?"  
  
Gou looks at her brother as if he's the dumbest thing alive.  
  
"The music club!" Is all Gou says, before she remembers something and dashes off to the kitchen.  
  
...What? The music club? But there isn't a-  
  
It's then when Rin remembers the whole morning. The sheet. The new clubs. He didn't get chance to read it, due to filling out the home details in a rush.  
  
"Oh..." Rin's stunned voice echoes around the hall.  
  
This can't be real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there we have it! Chapter fucking whoop de doo Two!  
> If you haven't noticed already, Rin and Haru are my favourite characters.
> 
> Kudos and comments are appreciated!
> 
> A little reminder that I'm tagging this as #ebmic on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag!
> 
> Find me on Tumblr here: karumello.tumblr.com


	3. Whine and Dine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh Rin, there never is just too much angst for you, is there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright. So I guess I have some explaining to do.
> 
> Over the past few months, a lot has happened at home. I don't want to go into detail about it, but all I will say is that it exhausted me, both physically and emotionally, took up a lot of my spare time, and restricted me from writing. My sleeping pattern was completely backwards. I wasn't in any mood to write, and when I did write, it didn't seem right. I know taking a hiatus after only two chapters seems kinda silly, but with the way things were, it was almost impossible for me to keep regular updates. 
> 
> But things are starting to clear up now, so I'm getting back into the swing of writing for pleasure, and I'm going to start taking this seriously, and update regularly.
> 
> For the sake of your own health, please make sure you are looking after yourself, and keeping a positive mind. Speak out to someone if you are not. 
> 
> For time being, I apologize thoroughly, and please enjoy this late, late chapter.
> 
> Thank you for your patience.

Dinner is surprisingly quiet.  Rin finishes dishing up the last of the pork kimchi onto a separate plate for his mother, putting it into the microwave to heat up for her later, and then carrying out his and his sister's plates out to the table.

Gou looks up from her meal at said table, a small grin meeting her brother's eye.

"Looks good!" She says happily, waiting for  Rin to take a seat at the opposite end of the table. He does so, and both siblings put their hands together in prayer, bowing their heads, before taking the chopsticks into their hands and digging in.

Rin eats in silence, popping the piece of pork he has trapped between his chopsticks into his mouth before any of the juices can drip out. He thinks about his first day in sequences, as to accompany the silence. The anxiety of finding out who had made his class,  Sousuke's return, his earphones.

The last part makes him snarl at his food. Now he has to buy himself a new pair...

"I had no idea  Sousuke-kun was returning to  Iwatobi . Why didn't you say anything earlier?" Gou asks between mouthfuls, catching  Rin's attention. He chews the pork piece quickly, not bothering to savor its taste, so that he can answer the question.

"I didn't know a thing. It was a complete surprise for me, too."  Rin replies, causing Gou to raise an eyebrow.

"He didn't?"  Rin shakes his head. "Oh... That's weird. I thought he would have at least told you." Gou finishes, and continues to eat as if nothing was said. Perhaps she takes his silence as an agreement.

Rin in turn looks down at the steaming meat and vegetables as his mind ponders. It's not like he can say anything, really. He didn't tell anybody when he came from Australia. Just his mother and Gou.

They continue to eat without saying another word, in complete silence except for the occasional tap of the chopsticks against their plates. For some reason, the silence is now more awkward than comforting.

Rin feels the need to suddenly open his mouth. There's a couple of things that have been eating at him since he arrived home.

"Gou?" He asks, solemnly. The girl in question lifts her head up slowly.  Rin bites the inside of his cheek before continuing. "Your... Homeroom teacher didn't say anything about Dad, did they?"

Gou looks at him confusedly.

"Huh? No, they didn't say anything. Why would they?" She says, putting her chopsticks down.

"Nothing."  Rin says, with a hint of bitterness. His sister is quick to pick up on his change of voice.

"Onii-chan, what happened?" She replies cautiously, watching him as his literally glares holes into his meal. What would the school have to say about their father? Their personal family business regarding him is nothing to do with their education, right?

"It's nothing. Just eat, don't worry about it." He almost spits, picking his chopsticks up again with such force that they almost snap.

Having lived with him for so long, Gou knows when her brother needs and doesn't need comforting. This time around, Gou feels it's better to keep her mouth shut.

Dinner is finished within the next ten minutes, Gou's plate is completely empty save for a small puddle of sauce, whilst  Rin's still has a few pieces of pork. Gou compliments her brother's cooking abilities, he nods contently before taking both plates into the kitchen to clean.

Gou takes her brother's quietness as a silent thank you, watching him disappear into the kitchen. She tightens the ribbon in her hair and stands to help her brother out, despite knowing she'll be told not to.

"Gou?"  Rin calls her name out, not knowing that she is stood in the doorway; she hums, making him turn around from the sink, almost dropping the sponge he holds. He exhales quickly before continuing. "Would you finish up these dishes for me? I want to go and get the shopping in before mom comes home."  Rin points a thumb towards the clock, its arrows showing that their mother will be home soon.

She immediately translates his words in her head: Take care of this. I want to be alone for a while.

"Sure!" Gou beams, hurriedly coming over towards the sink, she doesn't say another word, simply picking up where her brother had left off.  Rin thanks her before taking his leave. He scoops the keys from the table, and tucks them into his coat pocket, then puts the coat on quickly.

"I won't be long,  Mom'll be home soon so make sure they're done." He orders, watching for a moment as his sister fills the basin with warm water. She seems to heed his commands, dunking the first plate into the sink within seconds of filling it. She makes a disgruntled noise;  Rin hums in suspicion.

"I always hated washing th is sauce..." She mutters grumpily, showcasing the glistening red liquid that runs into the water, bleeding out slowly.  Rin looks at it a second longer, thinking of how it creates the illusion of the plate bleeding. he shakes the thought from his head.

"Use the wire scrubber, dummy." He says, shaking his head a little. She gives him an unamused look, but picks it up anyway.

"I'll be back soon," He reassures her again.

"Okay. Be safe. "

"I will, jeez."

He's quick to leave the house, pulling his shoes on quicker than he usually would, tucking in his laces instead of tying them. 

The cold air hits him the minute he steps outside. Turning around, he holds in a shiver as he closes the door gently behind him. He checks his pocket quickly to make sure he has his keys, they're there, and makes his way down the path.

So. Looks like he's in for another year of ridiculing. Another year of being told he doesn't understand.

Rin tends to walk slowly when he's upset or enraged, the deepness of the scowl on his face determin ing just how upset or enraged he is. It's a characterist ic he's always had since he was younger. If he's being scolded, he walks away slowly, thinking about what he's done. If he's been told something sad, he walks away slowly, thinking about what he can do to make things better.

His current scowl isn't too deep, but it's enough to know he isn't in a good mood. Digging his hands deep in his pockets, he begins his journey toward the  store. And he doesn't even have his earphones to accompany him. Great.

" _Thanks,_ _ Haru_..." He mutters  under his breath. 

To  Rin, long distances and silence is never a good mix. They're fine when he's with somebody, or when he has his music blaring down his ears, but silence gives him time to think. Time to think about all of the wrongs and imperfections.

_ Why couldn't Miho just keep her damn mouth shut? _ Is it so hard not to see what happened last year? Or does she merely care for the fact that she has fame in her classroom? No. That can't be true. Miho wouldn't do something like that; she's far too kindhearted.

Whether Miho tells them or not isn’t really that big of a problem, they're all bound to find out anyway. You can't hide a name as big as his; Matsuoka.

_ Toraichi Matsuoka. _

_ Iwatobi's Rock Legend. Heard by all, loved by many. _

Having a famous figure as one of his parents, Rin has escaped many of life's troubles. 

Is what others like to believe.

His father's fame brought him a mixture of feelings. When he was younger, the recognition of who he is was exciting, he felt a sense pride  leaving others starstruck. It gave him creativity, higher achievements. It gave him recognition, of course, but was it worth it?

Rin barely ever saw his father. He was always busy with tours and work, and when he did  have time to spend with his family, it was always interrupted with work somehow. The time they did spend together, however, Rin will never forget. They're precious memories to him and his family.

But now, since his passing, his father's fame is an imprisonment. 

It feels like being trapped in a prison, having no freedom, no privacy.  Rin can't share much about his life, he can't share and talk about his problems with friends, teachers, adults .  If he makes one mistake, everything will change; the image people have of his father will change.  So he's forced to keep it all balled up inside. 

If he screws up, what will everybody think?  Who raised this child? Who allowed him to be this way?

His privacy has been completely took away from him. He was  seven  years old when his father passed away, and now,  ten years later he can still remember the tears pouring down his face as cameras constantly flashed. The funeral wasn't any better. He doesn't like thinking about it, thinking about the swarm of paparazzi, cameras and voices that he shouldn't be hearing, that shouldn't be there. The condolences and sympathy were appreciative, but seeing the one you miss, constantly on TV, in newspapers, was constantly heart breaking. There was a period of time after his father had passed that he couldn't turn on the radio without hearing his  voice, without having to hear the constant reminder that his father wasn't there with him anymore. He tried to distract himself from the grief, but every time he stepped on public grounds, the people came and crowded, gawking at him sorrowfully .

Being the only male in the family left, Rin has to be the fatherly figure, strong for his sister and mother. But there are times when he himself wants peace, wants to escape. Times when he needs a break. The paparazzi has died down over the years, but he's still reminded of who he is daily. People tend to use him as a way to get what they want, pretending to be a close friend of his, just to get closer to his family, to take what is  his . 

It's embarrassing to be treated as someone " _special_ ", everybody has to pretend to be nice to you, even if they don't want to be. His teachers tend to pay more attention to him, be more gentle and polite towards him, and it makes him sick with guilt. It's as if everybody thinks that he has the expectation to be treated differently.

He doesn't want it to be this way. He never has.

Of course, that reflects on his classmates, too.

They tell him he doesn't understand.  He doesn't understand how he has it easy, has a clear future set ahead of him. He doesn't understand how lucky he is. He doesn't understand how jealous he makes everybody else feel. He doesn't understand how the real world works. 

He doesn't understand how it feels to be a 'normal' kid.

Haruka and Makoto don't make him feel that way. They understand him, as does Sousuke. His only friends. The ones who accept him. The ones who make him feel comfortable, the ones he can trust.

They make him feel like a normal kid. He's pretty lost without them.  In fact, they're the reason he didn't go to a private  high school when he came home from Australia.

He thinks about how this school year might no t be as bad, now that  every question and remark has been thrown at him.

Rin shakes the thoughts from his head before his eyes begin to sting. Looking up, he isn't too far from the store  now. Just another minute or so. He takes his phone from out of his pocket just to quickly view the time. 

It's almost  half-past five, his mother should be on her way home.

He enters the store, the automatic doors sliding open as he nears them, lights almost blinding him.

"Ah, good evening Mr Matsuoka! Anything in particular you're looking for today?" One of the store workers, small and blonde, asks him immediately. He's tempted not to click his tongue with being asked the second he enters, not even picking up a basket yet. But instead, he does the usual thing and flash her a small smile.

"No thank you, I'm just here to pick up the usual needs. If there's anything else I'll gladly accept your help." He says, collecting a basket from the stack. He carries it on his right arm, giving the girl one last smile before turning to begin his shopping. By the looks of it, the store looks pretty empty. Thank goodness.  Let's see... Well, there wasn't much milk when he left this morning, and his mother pretty much used up the entire loaf of bread. He heads off towards the dairy aisle, where he's met with another worker, absentmindedly restocking shelves and unboxing items. If he could just-

"Matsuoka-san, there's a special offer on almond milk this week. I hear it's very refreshing!" A voice pipes up from behind him, giving him a little fright. He turns around, careful not to hit the owner of said voice with his empty basket.

"And healthy, too!" Says the worker, who  was stocking shelves.

"Oh,  really?" Rin smiles again at both of them, picking up a carton of said milk. He glances over it once, already feeling uneasy. His family don't usually drink almond milk, and they usually buy it bottled . No. He can't be rude towards the workers. "I'll have to try some, then." Is all he says before popping it into his basket. 

He walks aimlessly around the dairy aisle for another two minutes, making sure that he won't be caught slipping an ordinary bottle of milk into his basket. He regrets it the second he does it. They have cameras in here don't they? Oh God. He can picture it now; the headlines, " _Matsuoka Ignores Those Who Help._ "

It then when he has to take a moment to compose himself.  _ Feeling guilty over a bottle of milk? This is ridiculous.  Get over yourself. You're still purchasing the almond milk, aren't you? _

He goes over to the bread next, picking up a brown loaf, feeling it for freshness. The crust feels slightly rigid. He rolls his eyes. He doesn't find the bread's feel a problem, but  Gou will usually complain if the bread isn't soft.

"We can check stock if we have anything fresher, Matsuoka-san ." A male voice greets him, making Rin in turn snap his head toward him. Shit.

"No, no, it's fine! This one here," He says, slightly panicked, picking up the closest packet, displaying it and putting it in the basket. "This one looks good." He reassures them.

"Are you sure?" They ask, and Rin has to mentally tell himself not to raise his voice, nodding.

He manages to collect the rest of his shopping, some fruit, healthy drinks and meat, without being harassed too much, and makes it toward the till. No. He wasn't being harassed, the workers were just being helpful. Helpful and polite.

"How's your evening, Mr Matsuoka?" The cashier greets him, immediately beginning to take the items from his basket and scanning them through.

"Quite well, thank you. How are you?" Rin replies, taking the milk bottle once it's scanned.

"I'm fine, thank you very much! Oh, no, don't worry about that. I'll do it." She says, quickly picking up the almond milk and drinks, bagging them carefully. Rin smiles politely.

"No no, I will. But thank you for the offer-"

"Honestly, I'll bag them. It's no big deal! Gives me a little extra work!" She chirps happily, chuckling lightly as she scans and bags the rest of his items.

"Oh, thank you very much." Rin says, returning the small chuckle. He reaches into his pocket for his money, handing over the notes when she gives him a price. " Keep the change."

"Keep it for yourself, dear. Perhaps you could use it to buy your sister a little something." The cashier offers, looking down at Rin with a small smile on  her face. The smile suddenly becomes a small pout. "Gou, is her name, right?"

"Ah, yes. But I think she's okay for now. here," Rin replies, taking the change and putting it into a small yellow bucket that sits beside the till. "Give it to the kids."

"Generous as always, Mr Matsuoka. Thank you very much!" She says happily, giving him a little wave as he takes the two bags and turns to leave. "Have a safe  journey home now, enjoy the rest of your evening!"

"You too, take care."

"Oh, see you soon, Matsuoka-san !" The small girl who first greeted him says, noticing  his departure.

"See you soon!" He says with a hint of a chuckle.

As he leaves the store, he wonders to himself if it's all an act. Are they putting on happy faces and being helpful just because he's Rin Matsuoka? If he were somebody  else, would they completely ignore him and continue their business as usual?

Who is he kidding? Of course they would.

It's all an act.

He has the exact same thoughts every time he visits the store, and it isn't just this one; almost every story in town knows his name, his story, even if he's never been there before. They give him offer after offer, but he never accepts any, paying in full. It isn't fair to the other customers that he has the privilege. But then again, isn't that selfish too? Isn't it a way of  saying , 'Yes, I'm rich and I have a lot of money, it doesn't matter. I'll get it all back anyway.'

He doesn't know anymore.

Rin practically has to shake his head to rid of the guilt that slowly engulfs him, instantly trying to think of other things to keep it off of his mind. He thinks back to the idea of Haruka  convincing the school to open a mackerel club. Would anybody actually join? Are there other mackerel fanatics other than Haruka? Would Haruka  make merchandise? His mind warps to an image of said boy, sitting in the corner of a room, sculpting  mackerel figures,  whilst wearing the most ridiculous mackerel-themed outfit. He wants to laugh, but the guilt that still swirls around in his stomach stops him, so he's only able to bare a small smirk.

It's then when he remembers  Gou saying something about joining the music club.

...Should he?

Almost a second after he considers the thought, his phone pings inside of his pocket. Who could this be? He didn't make any plans for this evening, so it's probably Gou. His mother must have arrived home.

Rin has two phones. One he uses at school, and one he uses for personal use. He uses his black flip-phone for school, easily accessible and just to make quick texts to his mother or friends, and he uses his black smartphone at home, for his music, internet or messaging.

But he doesn't tell anybody about them. Haruka, Makoto and his family (obviously) are the only people who know about his phones. If anybody else knew, his smartphone would have at least been mocked or stolen by now.

When he hears his phone ping again, he takes said phone out of his pocket, and unlocks it.

Huh?

_ [Fish Fucker: come over] _

_ [Fish Fucker: rin] _

Once he's done smirking at the silly and truly-fitting contact name he gave to Haruka, he swiped his phone, entering this passcode and opening the messaging app.

_ [I'm bringing shopping home. I'll be over later.] _

He manages to type back with one hand, the other hand holds the two bags of shopping. Haruka almost texts back instantly.

_ [Fish Fucker: ok] _

_ [Fish Fucker: hurry up] _

Hurry up? He's two minutes from leaving the store! Sheesh... What's the hurry anyway? Is there something important Haruka has to tell him? Or does he just want to copy from his work that he somehow missed?

'Somehow'… Somehow doesn't feel like the right word. Deliberately feels like it fits more. Damn Haruka and those earphones. His earphones. Just how many lessons and lectures has he missed because of those things? It's actually king of worrying to think about how Haruka's grades are going... Wait, how did he even manage to bump up to class 1?

He texts the unbelievable boy back, and picks up the pace.

_ [Be patient.] _

He's careful getting the keys out of his pocket, trying not to drop the bags on his left arm. He retrieves them with success, opening the door. But he isn't  greeted by his mother or sister's face, he's greeted by their laughter.

"Oh, Rin honey, that's fantastic!" His mother says, laughter dying to a stop as she steps out into the hall with a wide grin on her face.

"Fantastic? What is?" Rin asks, curiously. Is he really getting praise just for doing  some simple shopping? That hasn't happened before...

"Gou just told me about the new music club that your school is opening this year. You're joining, aren't you?"

Oh.

"Yeah, that us, that's new..." Rin says, a little awkwardly. He makes his way down the hall toward the kitchen, putting the bags down on the counter, unpacking them with small haste. Gou follows her brother, smiling gently at him as she begins to take the bottles out from one of the bags.

"Your sister and I think it would be ideal for yourself, and your friends too!" She continues,  taking a seat at the table. "Haruka especially. He must be overjoyed! I've never met a boy who loves music as much as he does. No wonder your father loved him." She finishes with a small laugh, awaiting Rin's response.

Rin swallows harshly. He's unsure  how to respond.

"Yeah." Is all he says for now.

"You sound unsure." Gou pipes in, shoving an empty bag into a cupboard. "I thought this was something you've been wanting?"

" _I _ _-It is_!  It's just, uh..." Rin reassures her, muttering the  last part. He can't exactly find the right words to say. He doesn't want to upset them.

What  does he want to say? He's always had the ambition to become a professional musician, like his father, as bizarre as it sounds to people, but will joining this club really  give him the head-start that he needs?

Rin has to take a moment to inwardly tell himself to stop asking himself stupid questions.

"It's great, really, just... No. No, it's good! I'm really gonna consider it. It'll give me a push, that's for sure! Finally... A chance for me to shine! "  He says, hesitating to scratch his neck. Gou cocks an eyebrow at him in  suspicion . His mother however, beams in joy, putting her hands together in small prayer.

"That's the spirit! I knew there was something good for you in that school." Mrs Matsuoka sings, standing up from her seat.  She wastes no time in bringing her son into a hug, almost squeezing him to the point where he's struggling to breathe. 

" _Oh God_ ," He quickly manages to wheeze out, looking over at Gou pleadingly. She snickers in reply.

"Rin, I'm so proud of you! You're getting closer and closer to your dreams every day, and I can't believe how fast these days are going!" She squeals into his ear, voice cracking at the last word.

"Please, don't get upset." Rin replies, attempting and struggling to find the circulation of blood in his arms to wrap them around his mother. He can't let her cry a second time.

"Such a hard worker, you make us all  so proud! " She continues.  Rin smiles fondly, mainly at his sister who rolls her eyes amusedly behind their mother's back.

When the bags are unpacked and Rin can  breathe again, he turns toward the microwave and heats up the pork kimchi he saved for his mother earlier. She takes it with great pleasure, complimenting his cooking ability much like his sister did ,  Rin thanks her, and moves away quickly before she can suffocate him again. Once she's finished, Rin takes her plate to clean quickly, before announcing to his mother;

"Mom, I'm going over to Haru's for a little while." 

Both Mrs Matsuoka and Gou look up at him from the couch, taking their eyes off of the movie they were watching. From Rin's point of view, it looks like some sort of action movie. Mrs Matsuoka gets that little giddy grin on her face.

"Ooh, Are you going over to talk about joining the club? I bet he can't wait!" His mother says  heartily, raising her eyebrows. That in turn makes Rin think.

_ Is that why he' s eager for him to hurry up? Is that why he wants him to come over?  _

In that  case, Makoto must be there, too.

"Yeah... Maybe he does." Rin replies, a little quiet, as if he himself has  realized that maybe that  is the reason.

"Well, whatever it is, have fun, honey. But be safe coming home! It’s still dark out, so text me when you're on your way home, okay?" His mother reassures him, Rin nods. "Oh, and don’t be home too late! You know I don't like it when-"

"I think he gets it, Mom." Gou says softly with a little smirk. Rin puffs humourously through his nose as Mrs Matsuoka shakes her head slightly. "Onii-chan, tell Haruka-kun and Makoto-kun I said hello!"

"Yes, tell them I said hello, too!"   


 

* * *

 

When he arrives at Haruka's home at quarter to six, he shouldn't have even questioned whether Haruka himself would open the door to him. Makoto stands, holding the door open for the slightly shivering boy, wearing a simple dark moss-green jumper and black jeans. Rin steps inside quickly, giving Makoto a very lively hello and immediately begins to feel the warmth that emits from the radiators. Makoto, in a very motherly fashion, takes Rin's coat and hangs it up.

"Still cold outside? I can make you some tea, if you'd like." Makoto offers, following  Rin down the hallway.

"Yeah sure, tea would be great, thank you."

"Would you like green or barley?"

"Oh, I haven't had barely tea in a while- And what the fuck is going on in here?" Rin's nonchalant voice echoes around the room. He himself needs to take a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the scene before him. He thinks that it should weird him out, but with it being Haruka, it barely has an effect on him. 

Haruka's royal blue guitar (his Epiphone Les Paul to be precise) lays directly in the  centre of his coffee table, facing the ceiling. That would be normal, save for the fact that a dozen candles are lit around it, as well as the clusters of cleaning equipment. It looks like Haruka is holding some sort of seance for his guitar. Rin thinks to himself, _is this what Haruka likes to do in his spare time_? Makoto giggles as he squeezes past the two into the kitchen.

"I'm cleansing him." Haruka's voice appears, as he walks into the living room, holding a pair of bright blue rubber gloves.

"The candles..." Rin trails off, looking him in the eye. Haruka frowns.

"It's cold."

"But you have radiators."

"But he's cold."

" _He's_ a  _ guitar _ _._ "

"He gets  col -"

"He's not a _human_ -"

"But he gets-"

Hearing his friends bickering, Makoto hastily pours the tea into two mugs, spilling it slightly.

"You're gonna set him on fire!"

"Why would I do _that_?"

" _Because he's by open fire, dumbass_!"

"Those are _candles_ -"

" _Tea!_ " Makoto hollers over the two of them, causing them to stop instantly, snapping their heads toward the taller boy. He sighs once he has their attention, holding up the tray that holds their beverages. "Tea... Is ready." He puffs.

As he sits down, Rin blows out the nearest candle to him, earning a scowl from Haruka. 

Makoto sits on the opposite side of Haruka, next to Rin, placing the tray between them. Rin thanks Makoto, who smiles politely in return.

"So..." Rin begins, leaning back onto his hands. "What was the hurry to bring me here?" 

Rin gets the answer he was looking for, not by words, but by Haruka placing those blue rubber gloves in front of him. Rin raises an eyebrow at the raven-haired boy.   


"I need you to clean him. I have to catch up with work." Is all he says, before pulling up his bag and taking out one of his books and a couple of sheets. Makoto's book and sheets are next to his own, for obvious reasons.

"...You want me to clean your guitar whilst you copy notes?" 

"Yes." Haruka says, looking back at him, face as blank as ever. "You should be happy I'm letting you touch him."   


"I'm sorry, Rin." Makoto butts in with a genuine sympathetic look on his face. " _I_ would have cleaned him, but you know I don't like touching guitar strings. They're thin and look like they hurt... And I'm not particularly a fan of..." Makoto mutters, tucking his head down as he almost murmurs the last part. " _B-blood_..."

"Makoto, it's okay." Rin says, softly. Neither he or Haruka tells him that 'they aren't going to cut him', because it's happened to both of them before. "I don't mind."

"Thank you." Haruka murmurs.

"Can I at least blow out these stupid candles?" Rin asks, giving Haruka a half pleading, half serious look.

"Fine."

Rin takes a sip of his tea, which is very well made, before standing to clean. Whilst he blows out the candles, Rin thinks to himself.

If he's going to join the music club, he has a lot of persuasion to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we have it! Chapter Three. If I soaked you in angst, please feel free to scream at me. At least then I know it worked! 
> 
> I know that Rin's father died when he was still a baby, but since this is an AU, I decided to change it up a little bit so that plot makes sense and has effect.
> 
> I'm sorry that this chapter is a little shorter than usual. But, expect chapter four very soon!
> 
> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! But feel free to post using the tag!
> 
>  
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](karumello.tumblr.com)


	4. Awkward Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> soumako? soumako. it's gonna be there i promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yooo! I was gonna upload this yesterday buuuut, the lady in the library decided to be my enemy and log me out. I was there for like 4 hours typing this up lmao
> 
> Please enjoy this chapter! It's my favourite so far.

_"I'm not joining your stupid band." A young Haruka says, wearing a full scowl on his face._

_The three boys, Haruka, Rin and Makoto, sit at a table, idly colouring in their pictures that they drew for their class' notice board. Haruka makes small, quick strokes with his pencil, making sure that the colours don't go outside of the lines, whilst Makoto and Rin both manage to make chicken scratches out of their drawings. The sunflower that Haruka draws is elegant, the deep yellows of the petals look like they're glistening in afternoon sunlight, it's charming, that's for sure._

_"Aw, come on!" Rin whines, stretching his arms out across the table. "You and me can play our guitars, and Makoto-"_

_"Why are you so persistent in having me play in your band? Can't you find another guitarist?" Haruka almost snaps, turning his head towards Rin. Rin in response backs up a little, a small frown on his face._

_"Well... Because you're the only other guitarist I know!"_

_"No."_

_"Please? It'll be fun! Won't it, Makoto?" Rin pleads. Makoto lifts his head towards the two boys._

_"Um... Sure, Rin." Makoto replies, flashing the boy a small smile._

_"See? Makoto says-"_

_"Makoto's only saying that because he doesn't want to upset you." Haruka responds, picking up a green pencil. He's more focused on completing his drawing. Rin lifts an eyebrow._

_"Huh? No he isn't! You aren't lying are you Makoto?"_

_"No! I would never!" Makoto instantly replies, panicking a little._

_"Makoto isn't a liar, Haru!"_

_"Is everything okay back there?" Their teacher suddenly asks, looking at Rin in particular. Rin inwardly gulps, nodding his head at her. She nods back slowly, before turning towards another student._

_"I don't want to join your band." Haruka states, his pencil strokes becoming harsher. RIn exhales deeply, sitting up straight._

_"And you can play your guitar all you like." Rin tries not to beg, trying to be as subtle as he can. However, it has the opposite effect on Haruka._

_"I can do that at home." He replies, refusing to meet Rin's eye._

_"But... You can play with us." Rin says meekly, sounding rejected._

_This time, Haruka looks over at him, but doesn't say a word._

\---

Haruka is about a quarter of the way through his first sheet when he checks up on how Rin is doing. He doesn't trust anybody who has never handled a guitar to touch his own, one of the reasons why he's asked Rin, and not Makoto. Haruka always makes sure his guitar is smooth and shiny, absolutely free of any scratches. He hasn’t damaged it yet, and doesn't plan on doing so. 

Rin takes time in removing the strings, his movements are careful and slow, as he doesn't want to piss Haruka off anymore tonight. He places the strings down on the carpet beside him, trying not to tangle them. To his other side, is his tea. He takes a long sip, Makoto does the same.

"Don't spill any tea on my guitar." Haruka says, watching Rin as he places the tea back down on the tray.

"I won't, don't worry. I'm looking after him." Rin reassures his friend. He can't believe he's actually saying 'him' when referring to Haruka's guitar. Obviously, it isn't a human, but Haruka has names him nonetheless. What was it again? He'll have to ask.

"You better be true to your word." Haruka replies, ducking his head back down to look at his papers.

"I'll make sure he's looking shiny and new. Besides, my guitar always does!" Rin boasts, making a show of spraying the fretboard and body of the guitar with the cleaning solution.

"When was the last time you cleaned _your_ guitar?" Haruka asks, sounding slightly mocked.

"I'll have you know I cleaned it just yesterday." Rin replies with a smirk. He takes the cloth from the pile of equipment, and goes to begin on the fretboard, but he's suddenly stopped by Haruka's grip on his forearm. He looks up at him curiously.

"Gloves." Haruka says, picking up said rubber gloves with his other hand, shoving them into Rin's lap.

"Really?" Rin whines, taking the gloves into his hands. He looks down at them in reluctance, they're bright blue, but they look like they've been used quite a lot, as the fingertips are a more dull blue.

"Yes. I don't want any fingerprints on him. You said you'd made sure he's looking shiny and new." Haruka retorts Rin's comment from earlier, receiving a tired expression from Rin. He sighs and pulls them on, much to his chagrin. Haruka tries to hide a smirk as he turns back towards his work.

Rin continues the cleansing, spraying the instrument again, rubbing over the smooth surface with the cloth. The shine already comes through, as Rin sees his own reflection in the deep blue hues. He then moves toward the fretboard, running the cloth over the bumpy surface, thinking of just how many songs and solos have been created on this very guitar.

He really would make a huge difference in a music club.

He thinks about the club again as he cleanses the rest of the guitar's front, sliding the cloth along its edges, getting in-between each tiny crevice and space. If he did join the music club, then he would also be joining a band. He's read about them before, in one of his sister's mangas - that he totally read out of boredom. It's just like he imagined when he was younger;  He would be the guitarist of course, and if Haruka would give in and join, then they would already have two guitarists. Makoto would join too, and then they would have three band members. But how many band members is too many? What if there are thousands of application forms already being submitted? What would happen then? Rin doesn't know. 

The more he thinks about it, the more he finds himself getting slightly giddy about it. Looks like his mother's effect is starting to work. 

Finally being able to persuade Haruka to join, of course, is going to be the big problem.

As he turns the guitar over without a sound, his thoughts and imagines deepen. Who would be the singer? Believe it or not, but nobody has ever really heard Haruka sing before, despite him being a music fanatic. Even at school choirs or hymns, he would always stay quiet. So he would definetley say no to being the lead singer. Makoto could perhaps-

"Makoto."

Despite it not being his name that Haruka is calling, Rin turns his head toward the sudden voice.

"Makoto." Haruka says again, a little louder. He stares at the boy in question, Rin in turn turns to look at Makoto, too, being met with the olive-haired boy looking off into the distance, his mouth lingering open, eyes staring off into space.

Rin jabs him in the arm gently, causing him to jump.

"Ah! I'm so sorry, you were saying?" Makoto says, panicked. He looks to Rin, who looks to Haruka, who lowers his eyebrows.

"What were you thinking of?" Haruka asks, eyebrows still lowered.

"Oh, nothing really." Makoto says, coming back down to earth. "Just, well, I don't know." He ends with a small smile, to which Haruka nods, and finally puts his pen to paper.

Both Makoto and Rin finish their barely tea, before continuing to think to themselves.

Makoto on the other hand, isn't thinking about clubs, or school at all. He thinks about something that's been on his mind since this morning.

Sousuke.

He hasn't even known him for a full 24 hours, but Makoto can't help but think that there's something about this new guy that seems to make him a little wary. It isn't because he's scary, or threatening, in general he comes off as a nice guy. Perhaps it's because he's taller? Makoto finds it very strange when he finds people that are taller than him, having being surrounded by Rin and Haruka for so long. He's been the tallest in every class he's had since elementary. But then again, isn't it a little pathetic to feel put off by someone just because they're taller than you? Makoto thinks again. Maybe... It's his eyebrows? They're slightly thicker than his own, and- No. That's pathetic, too. So what is it? His eyes might be the reason, they're a lovely shade of teal, and remind him of-

"Makoto. You're thinking again." Haruka says, looking suspiciously at Makoto. Rin pauses in spraying the back of the guitar to look over at him, again.

"Is there something wrong, Makoto?" Rin asks. Makoto shakes his head, looking up at Rin and flashing him a calming smile.

"No, no, everything's fine! I'm just thinking about little things in general. Y'know, like the twins," Makoto says quickly, in attempt to cover up his real thoughts. If he would have mentioned anything about what he was actually thinking about, Rin wouldn't exactly take it calmly.

"They started their last year today, didn’t they?" Haruka says, but it sounds more like a statement. Makoto nods, humming in agreement.

"Yeah. They told me all about their first day when they came home, It made me think about our last year in elementary." Makoto mutters the last part, but both of his friends hear him, anyway. Rin nods. "They asked me to help them fill out their club application forms, they're really excited to join the swim club. Ran especially, she was always first to jump in at the pool." Makoto continues, smiling idly to himself as he thinks about the last time he took them to the swimming pool. He should take them there again, sometime.

Rin's ears perk up at the words 'club application form'. Haruka doesn't say anything, but Makoto knows he's listening.

"Which reminds me, isn't there supposed to be new clubs opening for us this year?" Makoto asks, cocking an eyebrow in thought. Rin inwardly begins to feel panic when Haruka lifts his head up in question. So they haven't looked yet.

"Apparently." Haruka replies.

"Hey, they should be on one of those introduction letters, right? I didn't get to read them in class. Did you, Rin?" Makoto asks. His eyes seem to have lit up.

Rin shakes his head. Stay calm, Matsuoka.

Makoto mumbles something about 'having to have a look', and Rin instantly begins to put all of his mind thought and focus into cleaning Haruka's guitar. He knows Makoto will mention something about the music club. He hears the zip on Makoto's bag being opened, and rubs faster.

"Oi. Be gentle with him" Haruka snaps. Rin slows down a little, though he can still feel Haruka's eyes on him.

"I am." 

"No you're not. You aren't going slow."

"Jesus, Haru I'm not gonna break him!" Rin says, sounding a little forceful. "I promised you, damnit."

Haruka huffs through his nose.

"Ah! Here it is!" Makoto says after filing through the papers in his bag. He pulls out said sheet and hold it up, since he can't put it down on the table because of Haruka's guitar being there.

Rin watches for any changes on Makoto's face, as the boy chooses to read it in his head rather than out loud. Nothing changes yet, so it must be towards the end of the page.

And then it happens.

Makoto blinks, his eyes widening a little. He looks closer at the paper, reading what has to be the new clubs section, before his mouth slowly begins to open in disbelief.

He glances up at Rin in the corner of his eye for a split second, shutting his mouth when he sees Rin staring right back at him. He blinks again and looks back at the sheet.

"...So?" Haruka asks, startling both boys. Makoto swallows before opening his mouth.again.

"There's a law and politics club," Makoto begins, taking it slow. Rin nods, humming appreciatingly. Haruka remains silent, still writing out words onto his sheet. "A volleyball club, and a baseball club..." There's an awkward pause after that. The only sound that can be heard in the room is the sound of Haruka's pen against paper. Rin knows it's coming now. "...And a music club."

The room falls into complete silence. Haruka's pen freezes.

"That's... Nice." Rin says, cringing at the tension that fills the room. Makoto flashes him a warm smile, inwardly knowing this is what Rin wants. But Haruka on the other hand...

"A music club?" Haruka says, lifting his head up. Makoto nods, giving the sheet to Haruka when the boy holds out his hand to take it.

Haruka's wondering blue eyes scan over the sheet, not a change to his usual calm expression. Rin can hear his own heartbeat. But why is he getting so anxious? That was a long time ago, maybe Haruka has changed his mind.

"Rin." He says, not taking his eyes off of the sheet, until; "Are you joining?"

For a moment, Rin can't find the right words to say. Why did Haruka ask him and not Makoto?

"I... Don't know." Rin replies, shifting around on his legs uncomfortably. Hopefully, that was a good enough answer. Haruka nods, handing the sheet back over to Makoto.

Oh.

"Rin! I just remembered, I brought something for you," Makoto suddenly says, in attempt to cover up any awkwardness. He reaches inside his bag and swirls his hand around until he finds what it is he's looking for. "Here!"

Makoto holds his closed hand out, motioning with his head for Rin to hold his out, too. When the shorter boy does, Makoto drops a pair of lime green earphones into the palm of his hand, much to Rin's surprise.

"Makoto, I told you I'd buy myself a new pair. You don't have to give me y-"

"Oh, no, I have mine right here!"  Makoto says, taking his pair out of his pocket, showing them to Rin who looks a little puzzled. "Those are, well, 'were' my spares, in case anything happened to these. But I very rarely break my earphones, so I thought I'd give them to you. I've never used them before."

Rin looks down at said earphones in his hand, they aren't his usual brand, but they still look like a pretty good make. The colour is nice, too, different to his usual black or grey.

"Thanks, Makoto!" Rin cheers, grinning widely at the generous boy, showing him a strip of white jagged teeth.

"No problem. I know how it feels not having them at times." Makoto smiles back at him warmly.

Rin pockets the earphones quickly. Speaking of which, where is Haruka keeping his? He glances around the room, keeping an eye out for anything grey. Within a matter of seconds, he finds them, plugged into Haruka's mp3 player, which sits on the floor on the other side of the room behind Haruka, hooked up onto a charger.

"Rin, hurry up." Haruka's monotonous voice drags Rin out of his little daze, startling the boy.

"Seriously? You tell me I'm not going slow and now you want me to hurry up?" Rin chokes, cocking an eyebrow at Haruka unbelievably. This boy...

"I can't work without music. Hurry up."

"What does me cleaning your guitar quicker have to do with any of that?" Rin says, trying to keep his voice at a minimum volume, his cleaning movements become slower and slower.

"If you hurry up you can play whilst I work." Haruka replies, looking between both of the sheets that sit in front of him. "I would usually have my earphones in, but it's rude when you have guests." 

"Can't you listen to your music out loud? I don’t mind, do you, Makoto?"

"No, not at all!"

"Besides, I can't even _play_ left handed!" Rin says, angrily looking over the guitar at Haruka who shrugs.

"You haven't tried." Is all he says. Rin growls.

Haruka huffs, clearly struggling to pick up the pace. His lips scrunch up, as he loses where he was up to. The music usually helps him to focus and settle, rather than silence helping him to stress and become frustrated.

"The mp3 player isn't loud enough." He says quietly, tapping his pen against the sheet. " I've been saving up for that speaker, though." 

"Shouldn't you be saving up for more important things? Like... School fees and University?" Rin asks, knowing that he won't get an answer that's suitable. Haruka looks up at him, his expression bland. Rin sighs. "Look, I'll buy you that speaker for your birthday. I don't want you missing out on any more education that you should be entitled to. I want the best for you. For both of you." Rin says, very Makoto-esque, glancing between his two best friends. Makoto smiles brightly, whilst Haruka looks off to the side, muttering a quiet 'Thank you.'

"Jeez, I was starting to sound like you, there." Rin deflates, looking down at the shining blue guitar. Makoto makes a questioning noise.

"Huh? Like me?" Makoto asks, cocking his head to the side.

"Yeah. You're usually the one to settle everybody down and look after us, saying things like that." Rin chuckles to himself. "You're like our mom."

"Your mom?" Makoto repeats, sounding a little shocked, but flattered.

"Mamakoto." Haruka mutters. Rin bursts into peals of laughter, whilst Makoto cringes, and lets out a horrified yell.

"Please, don't call me that!"

\---

When the guitar is thoroughly cleaned and the strings are restrung, (after he remembers not to string them the wrong way), Rin slips the guitar strap over his right shoulder, when usually he slips it over his left. However, Haruka is left handed, so that means he plays the guitar left handed, whilst Rin is right handed. Haruka and Makoto watch Rin as he tries to get used to the guitar being the opposite way; Haruka watches to see if he can keep it clean and not damage it, and Makoto watches to see if Rin can complete the challenge.

"This feels weird already." Rin mumbles, already accidentally positioning his right hand where the fretboard usually is.

"You've been playing guitar for a long time, is it not easy just to flip it around?" Makoto asks without any idea. His mouth forms a small frown when he sees Rin struggling.

"It's not as easy as it sounds. This is really something new..." Rin continues, lightly strumming the guitar with his left hand. He makes a disgusted noise, causing Makoto to laugh a little. "Can't you play right handed, Haru?"

"A little."

Rin stares at Haruka, an unamused look on his face. He blinks slowly, and exhales, in replacement of rolling his eyes.

"Try and play something, Rin. It might seem hard right now, but if you actually try and play without thinking about the changes, it might work out!" Makoto says gently, softening the mood in the room. Rin chuckles again, and Makoto hums.

"Thanks, mom." Rin says, smirking. Makoto's expression falls slightly.

"I hope this isn't going to be a thing now."

Before anyone else can say anything, Rin positions his right hand at the end of the fretboard, and gives an experimental strum. The sound the guitar makes isn't exactly clean, there's more buzzing than actual notes, and Rin's fingers bend in the most alien-looking way. Haruka winces. He isn't used to hearing his guitar sound so... horrible. Rin lets out a disappointed grunt, shaking his hand and positioning it again. This is harder than he thought.

"...Almost!" Makoto pipes up, encouraging Rin to try again. Rin doesn't reply, instead taking Makoto's word to thought and trying again. This time around, only the top two strings buzz. It sounds a lot better than the first time, but Rin still looks a little unpleased.

"You should try just getting used to the fretboard with your right hand first. So that your fingers aren't hurting." Haruka says helpfully. Rin asks himself why he didn't think of doing that the first time.

"It's just like writing. If you use the wrong hand, it's really a struggle." He comments, muttering to himself as he attempts to play a scale. It's doable, but really, really slow paced.

Makoto watches Rin's slow attempts at playing with his opposite hand for a little while longer, before deciding to take out one of his books and make a start on some homework. There isn't much to do though. As he writes, he imagines a younger Rin first learning to play the guitar. Just like Haruka, Rin is an amazing guitarist, too. Haruka is easily able to make stunning melodies and movement, making beautiful sounds, whatever the genre, and Rin is more skilled with technique, - Apparently, he once mentioned something about being able to play with his teeth.

Which reminds him, didn't he say something earlier about him and Sousuke always pretending to be rock stars when they were younger? Makoto tries to hide a giggle when he imagines a little Rin, running around and sliding on his knees doing some sort of air guitar moves. If that's what he did, then surely Sousuke did something similar, too. They seem to be pretty close, after all. Rin mentioned he didn't play any instrument, so what did he do? It would be weird to ask, now. Maybe he... Danced? Then again, there isn't really any dance moves for rock music, and Sousuke doesn't really look like the dancing type. Oh! Maybe he did the background work? Like, the volumes and lighting... Or perhaps... That's gotta be it! He sang! Technically, vocals aren't an instrument, and it's still a big part of music. Makoto wonders for a fleeting moment what he sounded like. When he spoke to him at lunch, (literally once or twice), his voice was deep and had that humble fuzz to it. If he sang, would it have a-

"Makoto. Your pen's leaking."

Makoto yelps in surprise, looking down at his paper which now has a dark, expanding circle of ebony ink where his pen was touching the paper. He frowns, taking in the fact that his first page of his new book is ruined. Turning the page, his frown deepens when he finds that the ink has seeped through the first couple of pages, too.

"Jeez, if the homework is that hard, I don't even wanna do it." Rin scoffs, also looking down at the marks in Makoto's book. Makoto however, just laughs it off, trying not to sound nervous.

Why can't he stop thinking about him?

Sooner or later, Makoto is a third of the way through the homework and Haruka has moved on to copying notes from Makoto's English Lit book when Rin has managed to make a small melody on Haruka's guitar. It's slow, relaxing, calming and sounds rather lullaby-ish. But Makoto can definitely see where Haruka is coming from - it does help you to focus. Thank God. Any more thoughts and Makoto would never be able to look Sousuke in the face again. Rin slips up a couple of times, as he's still getting used to the new feel. He stops, bringing his hand over on the strings.

" _Hey_." Rin suddenly says harshly, grabbing Makoto's attention. "I'm playing to help you _focus_ , not _sleep_."

Looking across the table, both Rin and Makoto watch as Haruka's eyes flutter open and blink a few times. The little tune Rin was playing must have really been a lullaby.

"You should go to sleep once you've finished copying up. We can see how tired you are." Makoto says softly, addressing Haruka, who drowzily looks up at him. He nods slowly.

"Put him back in his case, Rin." Haruka mumbles through a yawn. Motioning towards the black case that leans against the wall in the kitchen. "Please."

Rin hums in acknowledgement, picking up the guitar and lifting the strap up, over, and off of him. He stands up and heads towards the kitchen, taking the guitar with him.

"I suppose Rin and I will take our leave then." Makoto says with a smile. "You can give me my books back tomorrow. But next time, please write your notes in class." He almost begs, watching Haruka's droopy face nod. "I care about your education, too."

"Giving him the good old mother and son, talk?" Rin says, reappearing in the door frame, a wide smirk plastered on his face. Makoto groans.

" _Please_ , Rin..."

They say their goodbyes, making sure Haruka doesn't fall asleep at the table, and Rin texts his mother that he is on his way home. The night air nips at their fingers, causing both of them to walk home with their hands stuffed in their pockets.

"I kinda forgot soft music and warm rooms put together makes him sleepy." Makoto chuckles, Rin huffs through his nose, his eyebrows lifting, meaning he must have only just remembered, too.

"With all those times you were thinking to yourself, I at least thought you would have thought about that." Rin replies, turning to look at the taller boy, still wearing that cheeky smirk. Makoto finds himself biting his tongue. "You sure think about others a lot, don't you?"

Makoto almost bites his tongue off.

"Of course, putting others before myself is a necessity. I can't be happy if others aren't happy, too." Makoto says, looking up into the night sky. The sky isn't full of many stars yet, but the dark blankets of black and blue still cocoon them. Rin does the same, sighing through his nose.

"What would we do without you, Makoto?"

\---

The following morning, Makoto accidentally sleeps in an extra half an hour. Upon noticing this, he hurls the quilt of off his body and almost tosses himself down the stairs and into the kitchen. The house is empty. His parents must be taking the twins to school, it's evident, as there are two bowls of leftover cereal by the sink. Why did he sleep in? Did he hear his alarm? Did he even set his alarm? As the questions run through his head, he runs back up the stairs and back into his room, hurriedly throwing on his uniform - one of his socks are inside out, but that doesn't matter right now. His hair sticks up in every direction, and he usually takes time in brushing his hair, but right now he can't take any time at all. He needs to be at Rin's house for 7:30, and right now it's- Watch. He forgot to put on his watch. He dashes back into his room and takes his watch from his bedside table, his eyes almost falling out of his head when the clock hands show that it's 7:25. No time for taking time. He brushes his hair flat for now, and runs back downstairs. Back to the kitchen, he takes a granola bar from the cupboard and practically shoves his shoes on, taking his keys and hurriedly stepping outside. He's speed-walking to Rin's house when about halfway there he remembers something.

Bag.

He whines out loud and runs back to his house, putting the key in the door the wrong way in a hurry, before taking it back out and unlocking it successfully. Luckily, his bag is right by the door so he steps inside, picks it up and hops back out. This time, he literally runs to Rin's house, his bag slapping against his leg as he runs.

"Hey! Slow down!" He hears a familiar voice shout. Looking up from the bottom of the stairs, Rin, unaccompanied by Gou, of course, stands at the top of the stairs, collar button undone, and hair perfectly falling around his face. He smiles before descending the stairs, meeting his friend at the bottom. "Slept in, huh?" He asks.

"How'd you know?" Makoto asks, a little weirded out. Usually he would be the one doing the mind reading. The two of them begin their journey to Haruka's house.

"Your hair. It looks different." Rin notes, looking at the taller boy's hair. It's fluffy and still sticking up in some places. It's kinda cute.

"I hope Haru lets me borrow his brush..." Makoto groans, earning a small chuckle from Rin.

It takes them fifteen minutes to drag Haruka away from his guitar, out of his room and away from the tinned mackerel that sits out on the kitchen counter. Of course, they allow him to at least put it back in the fridge. He does in fact allow Makoto to use his brush, though. Haruka and Rin stand in the doorway as Makoto quickly but carefully fixes his hair in the mirror, making sure it looks presentable. Rin clears his throat.

"I'm sorry! I'll hurry up now." Makoto says, quickly brushing over the bangs that fall over his face.

"No, no I was just clearing my throat." Rin says. He then sucks in his lower lip. Should he say it? What will they say, though? Well, there's only one way to find out. "Um... Do you guys know where to pick up the club disapplication forms?"

"Disapplication?" Makoto repeats, putting the brush down on the table. He turns around to pick up his bag from the floor, and meet Rin with a confused look on his face. "You're... Leaving the literature club?"

"Yeah. I hate it." Rin replies, looking off to the side. That was one way to put it.

"You're joining the music club." Haruka states, taking the words right out of Rin's mouth. Rin's mouth opens in surprise as he turns to the boy. Haruka's facial expression doesn't say anything.

"...Yeah." is all Rin says. Haruka nods, turning back to Makoto.

"...They should be in the teaching office, should they not?" The boy says, walking toward them. "If we make it on time, we'll pick one up on the way to homeroom, if you'd like."

Rin's eyes light up when the word 'we'll' is mentioned, but the light quickly fades when Makoto mentions 'one'. Looks like they aren't moving. 

"Yeah, sure. That would be cool."

Persuasion it is.

Upon arriving at school, Makoto notes that they have seven minutes to get to homeroom. Rin replies saying that he'll go at break. 

Miho starts the day as she does, the register, the notifications and genuine chat about the school whilst class 2-1 wait for their first teacher. Rin and Sousuke catch up more, talking and laughing quietly among themselves, careful not to be caught. Makoto is supposed to be on duty for watching if Haruka makes any sneaky moves with his earphones, but instead, he finds himself staring into the back of Sousuke's head, shamefully listening in to their conversation. He sighs through his nose when he hears his voice. He can definitely imagine him singing.

Luckily for both himself and Rin, Haruka's earphones are tangled, and their first teacher arrives before he can untangle them.

When their first couple of lessons are over, and Makoto has managed to cover up most of the blotches in his book with his notes, Rin takes his leave and makes his way toward the teaching office, leaving his friends in homeroom, as it's now raining outside. Haruka sits, leaning his head against his palm, looking out of the window. He loves the rain. He loves the sound of the pitter-patter against the window, he loves the sound of it splashing against the floor, it's like nature's rhythm.

The three sit quietly, not attempting to make conversation, each in their own little world.

Rin knocks twice on the teaching office door, getting a little fright when it opens suddenly. He's met with the face of a new teacher. He's tall, dressed in a simple rose-pink shirt and black trousers, and his hair is... well... Unprofessional, to say in the least. It's long at the top, but short as it travels further down. It would be pretty normal, if it weren't for the star shape that's shaved into the side of his head. He has a small beard, too.

"Everything okay?" The man asks, startling Rin. Rin doesn't make it obvious that he's getting a quick look at this new teacher, but the man in return makes it clear that there's something wrong with Rin, looking at him a little strangely. Rin feels uncomfortable immediately.

"Er, yes. I was wondering if there are any disapplication forms here?" Rin replies, trying to sound polite. The man grins, and holds the door open for him.

"Of course! Step inside." He says, as Rin does so. "I wonder if you've came here to apply for one of the new clubs?" He teases.

"Y-Yes, that is why I'm here." Rin stutters. He steps inside a little, but still close to the door. The blonde-man walks over toward his desk, which is kind of a mess, and begins to file through sheets of paper.

"Perfect! Which one are you interested in joining?"  He says, turned away from him.

"The, uh, Music club, sir."

The older man suddenly turns around slowly, taking one last look at Rin's face before shooting up immediately, laughing to himself. Rin cocks an eyebrow. This new guy sure is something.

"I knew I recognised you!" He suddenly beams.

Oh. That explains the weird look he gave him. Rin swallows thickly.

"You're Matsuoka's kid, aren't you?" He asks, his mouth begging to twitch into a smile.

"Yes, sir. Matsuoka Rin." Rin replies, giving him a little bow.

"No need to bow for me kid! I should be doing that for you!" He chuckles loudly, and at that moment, Rin wishes to hear a bell to signal him back to class.

"My name is Goro Sasabe. I'm the school's new music teacher, and the advisor of the music club. Welcome aboard!" He cheers, very enthusiastically.

"Nice to meet you. Wait- _welcome aboard_?" Rin realises, taken aback.

"Yep! You're in! I'll hand you the disapplication form, just fill that out for me by Thursday, don't worry about the club application form, that's not needed now!" He laughs, handing Rin said form. Rin inwardly frowns. This is the kind of thing he is ashamed of himself for.

"...Thank you, sir." Rin manages to say. "Um... Another question?"

"Go for it!"

"How many others have applied for this particular club?" Rin asks, fearing the answer. Goro chuckles again, his boisterous voice making Rin feel a little more uncomfortable.

"You're the second to apply. Are you worrying about club president? Because I can make tha-"

"No, no! That's okay, I don't want that." Rin calls out. He would absolutely hate himself for Goro to automatically make him the club president and take the privilege away from somebody else. 

"...Alright! So you hand that back to me Thursday, and the transformation is complete, okay?"

"Sure. See you Thursday."

So. He's the second person to apply? Rin wonders deeply who could be the first.

"I don't think this rain will be letting off anytime soon..."

Back in homeroom, the three boys sit in the corner, still at their desks. Makoto the conversation, he's usually the one to make immediate friends with everybody because of the way he is, but with Sousuke, he feels he might struggle. He still isn't sure why. So he talks about the weather; the usual awkward conversation starter.

"Yeah. You know what they say about April showers." Sousuke replies, he too, stares out of the window at the droplets of water. Haruka still seems to be lost in his little world. Leaving just Makoto and Sousuke. Great.

"I know. It's a good thing it started after we got here, I spent forever doing my hair this morning, and it doesn't exactly take the rain kindly." Makoto says, then forces himself to be quiet. He's also known to talk quite a bit about certain things.

Sousuke huffs through his nose in amusement, before turning to look at Makoto, who freezes in his seat. Since he was already looking over at him, Makoto watches as Sousuke glances at his hair, getting a rather good look.

He then looks directly at Makoto, catching him staring at him, and Makoto instantly realises what his problem is.

Sousuke is very, very attractive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoopee! Finally a lil' soumako interaction. Quick reminder this IS a soumako fic and will develop a relationship in future chapters, so don't worry! Expect Chapter Five within the next week!
> 
> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! But feel free to post using the tag!
> 
>  
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](karumello.tumblr.com)


	5. Mackerel Mayhem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto has a lot to think about. As does Haruka.
> 
> this chapter title sucks so much omfg I am so sorry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for the wait for this chapter, things are still kinda sucky at home, and it's becoming a little bit of a stuggle to cope with. Nonetheless, I will still work hard on this fic.
> 
> Also, can I just say a huge thank you for 100 kudos? For only four chapters (well, five now) That is amazing! it really made me happy when I saw it. And we're almost at 1,000 views, too! This is incredible! Thank you so much to everybody.
> 
> The hype I had for Starting Days has gone into this. The movie disappointed me so much ;-; but let's not talk about that, on with the story!

 

Rin hums a familiar tune to himself as he fills out his  disapplication form, it's light and has a slow rhythm to it, a complete contrast to the rain that still continues to pelt against the windows of their homeroom class. He, along with the others, sit in  their corner of the room, eating their lunches, as the rain doesn't want to allow its song to draw to an end just yet. Sousuke, Makoto and Haruka  are eating their lunches, eating quietly, whilst Rin waits until he has finished  filling in  his form, his bento box sits closed toward the edge of the table.

Makoto picks slowly at his food, closing and  opening his chopsticks over the smallest looking  rice ball in the box. He has a few things on his mind that he wants to think about, and as much as he thinks Rin's humming is comforting and soft, it isn't helping himself to relax. He doesn't have any snacks or starters to offer the others, first of all. He blames his late start to the morning for that. Speaking of which, he still can't figure out why on earth he slept in. 

"Leaving your club?" Sousuke asks once he's swallowed a bite of chicken. He says it quite quietly, but it's loud enough to remind Makoto that that's another thing to think about. Rin looks up from his paper to Sousuke, who wears a cool expression. He nods.

"Yeah. I'm joining one of the newer clubs." Rin replies. He's almost finished, and his food is becoming more and more appetising with each passing second . There's just one last thing he has to write . "What do you think I should put for my reason for leaving? 'Moving to a new club' sounds kinda rude..."

"Hm,"  Sousuke hums, leaning back a little in his seat. "Well, you  wanna tell the truth, can't bullshit it. It doesn't sound  that rude. Maybe just put something like, 'Found a new  club that will have a bigger impact on my future.'"  Sousuke mutters , realising that sounds even ruder.  Rin smirks.  Sousuke picks up another piece of meat, shaking his head. "I  dunno. they seem to like you a lot here, so to be honest, it won't matter what you put." He laughs a little before opening his mouth again, "I bet if you put something like 'This club sucks ass' They'd let you go without a second thought."

"...Yeah." Rin mumbles. He bites the inside of his lip, not too hard. "Anyway, what club have you signed up for,  Sousuke ?"

"I haven't signed up for anything yet. I'm only just getting used to being here first. Besides, there isn't really anything I've seen that takes my fancy."  Sousuke replies, looking over at his friend, who looks a little nervous.

"...What about the new clubs?"  Rin asks, with an obvious hint. There's a small glimmer of hope in his eye, but he knows it won't last long.

Sousuke immediately knows what he's trying to say. His expression hardens. He  scowls down at his lap, inhaling and slowly exhaling through his nose. When he himself saw the list of new clubs, he knew that  Rin would ask him this, and he knows that  Rin is expecting the answer.

"You know  I can't."  Sousuke almost whispers, feeling a little sad himself.  Rin frowns but doesn't say anything else.

" Rin , you should eat your lunch before you forget, you can think whilst you 're eating, right? Food helps the brain to function." Makoto says from behind the two after sensing a sudden tension between them. It's ironic since he can't  think and eat at the same time himself. But still, he cares for the wellbeing of his friends.  Rin huffs amusedly, turning to flash Makoto a small smile.

"You're right."  Rin says, putting the sheet aside and  bringing the bento box toward him. "I'm starving!"

Makoto hums happily in reply. He glances over toward  Haruka , who eats his mackerel in peace.

"Again?"  Sousuke asks, turning around in his seat. He sits so that his back is against the wall, and his legs are out from under the desk and facing  Rin , giving Makoto a nice view of the side of his face. In an attempt  of not staring,  Makoto wonders why  Sousuke is asking Rin why he is hungry, before realising that the boy is  in fact asking  Haruka , since he has an odd look on his face.  Haruka cocks an eyebrow.

"What?"  Haruka replies, no changes to his voice.

"You had mackerel yesterday."  Sousuke notes, looking into  Haruka's lunch box at an exact copy of that he saw yesterday. He swears that even the mackerel pieces are in the same position.

"I know."

"I  told you  you should  be  giving your diet more variety. " 

Makoto bites his tongue. He keeps an eye on  Haruka , who simply shrugs. Although he,  Rin and Makoto do manage to keep fit and eat healthily, he never mentioned anything about a diet, which means  Sousuke must be keeping himself healthy and in shape, too. Well, to be honest, that was already obvious by just looking at the guy.

"Mackerel is healthy. "  Haruka states, looking back down at his beloved meal.

"I know, but still. It can be unhealthy to eat the same thing all the time."  Sousuke says, thick eyebrow s lowering over  his eyes, piercing teal .

"You can sit there and talk to him about it forever."  Rin interrupts, opening the  lid to his lunch .  "You'll never convince him, we've tried countless times. He'll probably eat it tomorrow, and the day after that, and forever really." He jokes.

"Have you ever tried it?"  Haruka asks, his blue eyes glancing up toward  Sousuke .

"No. I'm not really a big fan of fish food, I'm more of a meat eater."  Sousuke replies, eyebrow quirking slightly at the sight of  Haruka's small frown.  Haruka in reply takes his bento box into one hand, and holds it out toward the taller, who looks down at it  unwillingly . The mackerel pieces look greasy, fish scales still evident, and  Sousuke would be lying if he didn't say he would be more glad to see that mackerel swimming in the sea rather than  held out in front of him as part of somebody's lunch. He wrinkles his nose in disgust. He does like fish, but not the texture of it. It's... unsettling to say the least.

"Try it."  Haruka says, a little forceful. 

Rin watches the two in amusement, hiding his vivid smirk by chewing on a piece of meat. Makoto however is a little more invested in how  Sousuke can make all of these facial expressions and still manage to look so handsome.

Yes, he'll admit to himself that the boy sat in front of him is attractive, but handsome doesn't mean anything more, does it?

"I'll pass, thanks."  Sousuke replies, reluctantly glowering down at  Haruka's offering.

"It's good. Try it."  Haruka urges, stretching out the arm holding the mackerel-filled bento out more.  Rin almost laughs out loud. He doesn't think he's ever seen  Haruka so eager to make somebody do something.

Sousuke pauses for a moment, lip curling into a small scowl, before taking the chop sticks out of his box and turning to pick out a piece of the fish. His eyes scan the box for the smallest piece. He finds it, and literally scoops it up as quick as possible. He tries not to think about the little bit of moisture that drips from the chosen piece for too long, and pops it into his mouth.

Immediately, he wants to spit it out.  But he chews instead.

The  taste isn't that bad, but the second his tongue wipes over that familiar texture,  Sousuke shakes his head and makes an displeased noise at the back of his throat.  Rin can't hold it in anymore, and busts out into a fit of laughter. Makoto laughs  a little,  too, taking in the sight of  Sousuke's puffed out cheeks and very  visable frown.

"Gross..."  Sousuke manages to spit out once he's swallowed the hell fish, and both  Rin and Makoto's laughter dies down.

Haruka brings his beloved fish back towards him, looking  mildly offended.

"I can't  bare the feel of fish scales...It's just  _ so _ ..."  Sousuke shakes a little, trying not to remember the feeling.  Rin nods with a weary looking face in agreement, though he doesn't actually mind  eating mackerel. Just not every day. 

"I think it tastes nice. I just couldn't eat it every day, it would start to taste a little boring. But  Haru doesn't think that." Makoto says in  Haruka's defence.  Haruka remains silent , eating his mackerel carefully .  Rin doesn't say anything out loud about Makoto reading his mind  again.

"I suppose it would taste alright if it were hot."  Sousuke says, in a sort-of apology.  Haruka gives him one look.

"Haru makes great mackerel miso. It's warm, filling, and  really tasty!" Makoto chirps. Despite being complimented,  Haruka still refuses to open his mouth. Any negative comments about his mackerel are always taken to heart.

"You cook?"  Sousuke asks him.  Haruka is reluctant to open his mouth to  answer him, so he simply nods. 

"Open your mouth,  Haru. He said it would be alright if it were warmed up. Don't take the hit  _ that _ hard."  Rin pipes up, acknowledging  Haruka's behaviour. It's happened to him on a few occasions.  Haruka exhales.

"I cook." He simply says. 

"What do y-"

"Mackerel."

Sousuke sighs as  Rin and Makoto giggle again. He decides to just drop the conversation about food at this point. He gets the feeling it'll take a while to have a friendly relationship with this guy.

Haruka returns to looking out of the window.

"I think I'll put what you said."  Rin says, tapping his pencil over the empty box on his sheet. His lunch is about half eaten, but it looks like  Rin has decided to just get the sheet over and done with anyway.Sousuke hums in question. " _Found... A new club... That will have a bigger impact... On my future._ "  Rin says  out loud as he writes it down in the box. Sousuke nods, feeling a little flattered.  Rin puts his pencil down on to the table, and lifts up his sheet, reading over it and making sure that it's 100% legible. His handwriting looks pretty neat, and his reasoning is valid, so he's happy. "All good to go." He says glancing up at the clock that hangs on the wall at the front of the room.  It's exactly 1pm. "Do you think I'll have time to hand it in now? Or should I wait until tomorrow?"

"Well, what did  Sasabe say?"  Sousuke asks, looking up at the clock too.  Rin told them about the new teacher rather than the form the second he came back and sat down, describing every detail of his unprofessional approach. Makoto and  Haruka found it a little odd that they'd allow him into the school with such a haircut, but  Sousuke however simply replied saying that most musicians are a little different.  Rin on the other hand is bias between their responses.

"He told me to hand it in tomorrow, but... I have time now, and it's finished..."  Rin replies, waving around said sheet a little.

"Hand it in now. I'll come with you,  I could do with stretching my legs a little. Being sat in one position for most of the day isn't exactly going to give me a good posture."  Sousuke states,  Rin agrees, humming in agreement before standing.  Sousuke follows, brushing himself off as he stands.

"We're heading over to the teaching office to hand  in this,"  Rin announces to the other two, who look up at them. He holds up the complete form.

"Okay. We won't go anywhere!" Makoto jokes, and  Rin huffs in amusement in reply.  Despite the fact that they'll only be about a minute, Makoto gives them a small wave as they exit the room.

"I don't like him."  Haruka states the second the door closes behind them. It's hard to hear him over the noise of the other students in the room, but Makoto hears him nonetheless.

"You don't like who?" Makoto asks, but he knows the answer.

"Yamazaki. I don't like him."  Haruka scowls, closing the lid over his empty bento box. Makoto pouts a little. He knows what this is over.

"Haru , you can't just say you don't like somebody because they don't like what you  like. " Makoto says, leaning over toward  Haruka's desk a little. "You two will make good friends. I can tell already. Just, give him a chance . You never know, there might be something else you two have in common." Makoto says, hopefully. He wants them all to get along well, and make good friends with  Sousuke himself.  Haruka huffs through his nose, turning his head a little. "You might have the same taste in music?" Makoto suggests, giving him a little smile of encouragement.

"...Okay."  Haruka responds, and Makoto knows that  Haruka is willing to give  Sousuke another shot.  "I hope he doesn't join the culinary club..."  Haruka comments, earning a small snicker from Makoto. 

Hopefully, they'll get along just fine.

That reminds him; now that  Rin has officially left the literature club, he's all on his own. Sure, he's pretty friendly with everybody else in the club, and everybody seems to be on good terms with him, but  Rin was his only close friend in the club, the only one who he could properly  have a conversation  with without it being a little awkward. They had a good laugh in that class, but hopefully  Rin will have a better time in his new club. The music club. Making not only new friends, but music too. His passion. Makoto is happy for him, of course he is. He's getting closer to becoming who he wants to be. But at the same time, he thinks, What if  Rin is even lonelier in his new club? Didn't he say there was only one other member? It's only been a day, but usually the club application forms should be flying in by now. He hasn't heard anybody else in class 2-1 talk about it, so he must be the only member from this class.

Wait. There are first years joining too. Makoto knows that  Rin wouldn't cope well with a bunch of first years. From experience, the first years have been a little disliked by the elder students,  which Makoto thinks is totally wrong. They're just a little  excitable , that's all.  Rin needs somebody to keep him sane, somebody to make sure he's doing his best, and as  much as he hates to admit it, make sure the first years are settling in and feeling comfortable too.  Rin probably Is  capable of doing all three on his own, but Makoto knows that what  Rin really wants is somebody to share the experience with, to make it memorable.

...Should it be him?

Why is he asking himself? Of course it should, He's one of  Rin's best friends. And who's better to share lifetime memories with other than your best friends? 

Besides, Makoto loves music too. He might like a different type of music genre compared to  Rin and  Haruka , but he still wants to create something special with them. Something that holds them together. This club could actually be something so perfect.

Then it's decided. He'll leave the literature club, and join the music club, too.

He's still a little confused as to why  Haruka isn't jumping at the chance. From what the club analysis had told him, the music club  is a place where you can create your own music, and play all you like,  which is  exactly what  Haruka does. Perhaps it's the fact that there are other people, too. But that shouldn't bother him, should it? 

Then again,  Haruka has always said that he has no interest in joining a band.

That's probably the reason why. There has to be some kind of way he and  Rin can convince him. If they made a band  without Haruka, it would be pretty pointless. Sure,  Rin and himself are good musicians, but  Haruka has always brought the best out of the two, simply by just being there, like silent support. He's pretty sure  Rin would say the same thing, too. 

Makoto finally picks up the  rice ball he'd been looking at,  and pops in into his mouth, chewing slowly as he looks over at  Haruka . The raven-haired boy is sat, untangling his earphones carefully, still wearing that calm expression. Makoto knows that he's still affected by  Sousuke's comments from before, so he doubts that  Haruka will be any more social this afternoon. It'll wear off soon, though. 

"Haru , you know what we said yesterday about putting your earphones in in class," Makoto starts in a small warning tone. He frowns as  Haruka manages to untangle one of the knots.

"I know. I'm just listening to it for the rest of lunch."  Haruka replies, thankfully. Makoto hums in acknowledgement, hiding a smirk as he watches the rest of  Haruka's mildly annoyed quest to untangle the earphones.

When  Haruka manages to finally do so, he plugs them into the mp3 player and lays it down on his desk, and then motions for Makoto to move across. The taller of the two stands, moving his chair across to  Haruka's desk and sits back down, wearing a small smile on his face.  Haruka puts one earbud in his left ear, handing Makoto the other one. It's a small act of kindness, Makoto thinks, making sure that he doesn't feel left out. Sharing his music with others. 

Haruka takes a moment to flick through his songs, small snippets of bass drum beats and guitar lines sounding through their earphones at a moderate volume, before finally finding a song and putting the mp3 player back down on the desk. Makoto's smile widens when he  recognises the beginning of the song that fills his ear. This is one of  Haruka's favourites. It's an instrumental piece that consists of a really  smooth,  catchy bass guitar riff, and a guitar solo that's so captivating and  pleasing that it makes you feel so calm and collected.  Haruka expresses said feelings visually, as he leans back in his chair a little, closing his eyes. His  foot taps against the table exactly same  when the drum kicks in, keeping in time to the rhythm. It's slow compared to the other songs on  Haruka's mp3 player, and he probably chose this song just to calm himself down, but it seems to be working nonetheless. 

Makoto on the other hand, bobs his head a little in time with the beat, he isn't as expressional as  Haruka when it comes to listening to his music, as he would rather sing along, but not in school, or even in public for that matter . No way. In fact, the only place he feels he can sing out loud and be comfortable in doing so, is at home in the shower. Sometimes Ren and Ran hear him, or sit outside the door just so they can listen to him. They always praise their big brother and say that he's really good, which really  embarrasses him. When they were a little younger, they  would always ask him to sing lullabies to them, despite knowing that their brother doesn't particularly like soft songs, and so struggles to sing softly. They probably did it just to hear him sing, and giggle at his attempts to not put his own twist on them. He would leave their room, cheeks red in  embarrassment and return to his own room, plug in his earphones and forget it ever happened.

Haruka's head begins to nod to the beat, his short locks of hair waving as he moves. And at the same time,  Rin and  Sousuke re-enter the room.  Rin laughs to himself when he sees  Haruka losing himself to the music, as  Sousuke's eyebrows raise a little in wonder.

"How did it go?" Makoto asks, taking the earbud out, placing it down on the desk  in front of  Haruka , who still has his eyes closed. The other two sit back down.

"It's all sorted now, I've  officially left the literature club!"  Rin cheers, turning and leaning his arms over the back of his chair.  Sousuke returns back to his position too.

"So you start the music club this Thursday?" Makoto asks. He thinks about telling  Rin that he's made the decision, too. but decides against it.

"Yup! I'm not  gonna lie, I'm a little excited."  Rin says,  the small  smile never fading from his face. Makoto  flaashes him a warm smile back. "I just hope this other member is excited as I am..."

"Who do you think it could be?"  Sousuke asks, and  Rin hums. 

"I  dunno . Hell, I haven't even thought about what instrument they could play. We can't have  thr - two  guitarists."  Rin stutters that last part, but luckily  Haruka didn't hear him. Of course he didn't.  Rin bets Haruka can't even hear a single thing through the ear that doesn't have an earphone in it, he's completely invested in the music playing in his other ear.

"Rin , most bands have two guitarists. Your dad's band had two."  Sousuke points out with a strange frown.  Rin swallows thickly.

"I mean, uh, two  lead  guitarists. There needs to be a  rhythm guitarist, too."  Rin replies a little nervously. Fortunately,  Sousuke doesn't pick up on it, and simply nods.

"I never did understand the difference..." Makoto hums, cocking his head a little. He gets a little bit of a fright when  Sousuke turns and answers him instead of  Rin .

"A lead guitarist is usually the one who plays the solo parts. Rhythm is basically just the  backing music who decides the chord sequences and such."  Sousuke replies, looking Makoto in the eye. Makoto pretends he heard everything that he said.

"Oh, I think I understand now. Thank you, Yamazaki-kun." Makoto responds, giving him a smile in thanks.

"Don't thank me. And just  Sousuke is fine."

Makoto also pretends he didn't feel his heart jump a little.

"Well then, you can call me Makoto, too." He says friendly.  Sousuke nods.

Makoto  spends the remainder of the day trying to figure out what's going on in his head, and keeping an eye out for any of  Haruka's sneaky moves. Luckily for him, once their fourth lesson begins,  Haruka locks his mp3 player, unplugs his earphones and puts them back into his pocket. Phew.

\---

"I can't believe you made  Sousuke eat mackerel."  Rin laughs. The three boys walk home together, golden sun coating them, not making any stops in their tracks. Makoto covers his mouth with a hand as he giggles to himself.

"He had to try it. Everybody needs to try mackerel at one point in their lives."  Haruka monotonously replies, like it isn't a big deal at all. 

"Otherwise they haven't lived."  Rin imitates. He  pulls a very  Haruka-esque frown mockingly, but the boy doesn't seem to catch on.

"Exactly."

"I was joking."

Rin expects him to follow with something within the lines of ' _m_ _ackerel isn't a joke_ ' , but nothing comes.  Haruka remains silent. Deep down,  Rin knows that's what he's thinking.

"Hey, I don't think I saw you wearing your earphones during lessons today. Looks like our plan worked,  Rin ." Makoto says, like a proud mother.  Rin nods in agreement.

"Looks like you're finally listening to us instead of your music!"  Rin jokes, jabbing  Haruka in the arm with his elbow.  Haruka frowns, looking straight ahead. 

"I had them in at lunch when you and Yamazaki left." Is  Haruka's quiet reply.

"Oh yeah! You did, what were you listening to?"  Rin asks. The steps toward  Haruka's house aren't far from here, now.

Haruka shrugs his shoulders. The usual reply to that question.

Rin rolls his eyes as Makoto laughs again. 

When  Haruka leaves,  Rin and Makoto wave him off at the bottom of the steps, and watch him ascend them until he's disappeared from their sight.

"I wish he'd be more open when it comes to telling us what songs he likes."  Rin huffs, turning on his heel to the direction of his and Makoto's homes. Makoto follows behind for a moment, and then walks beside him. He hums in reply to  Rin , but he can't bring himself to keep up the conversation, because now would be a good time to tell him that.  In fact, that's what he's going to do. Right now.

"Hey,  Rin?" Makoto starts, successfully gaining  Rin's attention as the boy turns towards Makoto's tone of voice. He sounds a little serious.

"What's up?"  Rin replies, rather than just saying yes. Makoto doesn't look back at him, and just carries on staring up ahead, just like  Haruka did before.  Rin lifs an eyebrow.

"I've decided." Makoto states, stopping in his tracks, as does  Rin.  Rin turns to look up at the taller boy, and when the taller boy gives him that warming smile, he knows there's nothing to worry about. "I'm joining the music club with you."

Rin's eyes widen, and for a moment Makoto was sure he could see a little sparkle. His mouth opens a little, and his eyebrows lift slowly. Makoto's smile widens.

"You... Are?" Is  Rin's shocked reply. "Y-You don't have to just because I'm leaving the-"

"No. I want to." Makoto cuts him off, sounding a little bolder. "I want to join for my own reasons, too. This club could be something special, and maybe it could benefit me greatly. But I know I can't do it on my own, and now that you're there, I feel like I can do it."

Rin's lower lip quivers.

"Makoto... Thank you." He responds. His lips curl up into a wide smile, one that hurts his cheeks a little. Makoto smiles back at him.

"I just, hope that  Haru feels the same way. It won't be as memorable without him." Makoto finishes, looking off to the side.

"I know what you mean, it won't be as special, It just...  Weirds me out ,  kinda .  Music is his passion.  Why isn't he jumping at the chance? "  Rin says, a little meekly, it's a question not even Makoto knows the answer too.

"That's how I felt too." Makoto whispers. "That's why... We have to do this _together_."

Rin looks up at Makoto, who all of a sudden wears a determined expression on his face.

"I don't want to force him, but we have to get  Haru to join with us. I know this could benefit him too. I know it's something he'd love." Makoto says boldly.  Rin nods sharply in agreement.

"Yeah!"  Rin snaps, his signature shark-toothed grin shining. "I know, too. Let's do this together, right?"

"Right!"

At the same time,  Rin holds out his hand in a fist bump, as Makoto holds his hand out for a high- five. They both make a confused noise before Makoto hesitantly closes his fist and bumps it against  Rin's . the two of them continue their journey home, with one thing on their minds;

How?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what the fuck did u say about mackerel m8 I will rek u
> 
> EDIT: There were tons of typos in this chapter, but I've managed to pick them out and fix them. Whenever I copy my work onto the chapter text, the computer has a habit of putting in random spaces everywhere? Odd.
> 
> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](tumblr.com/tagged/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! But feel free to post using the tag!
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](karumello.tumblr.com)


	6. Truth Be Told

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto begins to notice a few things. About his friends, but also about himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HUZZAH. HERE I AM. HERE IT IS.
> 
> Reasons for my slow updates are [here](http://karumello.tumblr.com/post/135584293702/hhhhhh-more-okay-ive-ran-away-from-home) . I don't want to annoy you all by starting off chapters with long ass explanations. I can't apologise enough.
> 
> I got a laptop for christmas, and the holidays were extremely busy for me. But now that everything's starting to settle down, expect more frequent updates. Thank you to those who are patient.

The rain falls for the rest of the night, a thousand diamonds falling from the skies, shining through the dark hues of black and blue. Makoto watches the rainfall from his bed, subdued eyes never closing. The moonlight outside gives his skin a ghastly white glow. He's always preferred to sleep with the curtains open, as the sunlight helps him to wake up of a morning, although it didn't work this morning. But he doubts he'll be getting a good night's sleep tonight, so the sun really needs to step it up tomorrow.  

He hates nights like these. Night where he stays up thinking about the simplest things and worrying too much over them, waking up to realise he really shouldn't of. But when there's a lot on his mind, it's hard to just sleep it all off. The rain helps him to be calm and not worry, and he supposes he's lucky that it's raining right now.  

At least he's confronted Rin about joining the music club, is the first thing he thinks about. He thought it would take more than just a simple little speech to move him, but Rin is a very emotional person, and takes a lot to a personal level. It cheers him up to see that he's brought joy to somebody else.  

Getting Haruka to join shouldn't be that big of a problem. The boy loves music, the club is for that. Simple as. Perhaps that's not what he's seeing. Perhaps Haruka thinks that it's a club where you discuss your favourite music, and he doesn't want to join as he doesn't particularly have any favourite bands, or singers. But then again, he did read the club description.  

And the club didn't mention anything about a band.  

That must be it.  

A small smile comes to Makoto's lips. If that's the problem, then it's sorted. If he and Rin can just tell Haruka that it isn't about that, then he'll be persuaded and packing his bags the minute it's said, and the three of them can finally start anew together. Even if that isn't the problem, there has to be something to be said that'll have him waving goodbye to the culinary club. Haruka isn't easily movable like Rin, but when it comes to things he loves, there shouldn't be a doubt.  

Heh. Maybe he will get a good night's sleep tonight.  

As the rain pours over his balcony doors, or windows, Makoto gets under his quilt, sitting up against the headboard with a couple of pillows supporting his back. His white sheets glow in the blue light from outside, turning them a familiar shade of teal. The colour of-  

Makoto sighs.  

He definitely doesn't want to go down that path, but feels he has to in order for him to sleep alright. He can say it's now been a full 24 hours since he's known him, and it hasn't been a single hour since he's left Makoto's mind. But why? He hasn't done anything spectacular, nor has he even had a full conversation with him. That small chit chat about the weather doesn't count, because there were about three sentences passed between them.  

He does remember admitting to himself that he is very attractive. And he is, right? Anybody would think that when they look at the guy. It's normal to think people are attractive, both physically and personality wise. That's what Makoto believes, and that's what he'll always believe. Attractive people are attractive. It's that simple, he tells himself.  

Especially when you're attracted to that gender.  

Makoto chews the inside of his lower lip. He knows he's attracted to men. He's known it ever since he was younger, and to think about it in a place where nobody else knows, his own home, makes him feel just a little uncomfortable. He hasn't come out to his parents yet, and doesn't plan on doing so for a while. They've always been supportive of him in everything he's done, and he highly doubts that they'll be disappointed in him. Still, he's scared. Anyone would be.  

It's not that he doesn't think girls are nice looking, of course he does; there are lots of pretty girls and cute girls at school, they're just not for him. He can't remember the last time he felt attracted to a girl, and to be honest, he doesn't think he ever has.  

But ever since he's known that he's gay, he's never actually developed a fully fledged crush on anybody. He used to believe that he liked Haruka at one point, but dropped the thought entirely when he figured out that it's just a simple, platonic friendship that they share, and he would never want to ruin it. The same goes for Rin, however, when Rin returned from Australia and showed up at his gate one morning, his red locks blowing gently in the cool spring wind, Makoto couldn't take his eyes off of him. But he thought it was more or less because of the fact that he couldn't believe what he was seeing.  

As he thinks, the night aura consumes him whole; speckles of starlight shine down on him and glisten on his skin, in his hair and in his eyes. He looks to them through the gaps of the rain's waterfalls for some sort of help, some sort of comfort and guidance, but he doesn’t hear anything that they say. They just look down on him.  

He can't pass Sousuke off as a... crush. No way. It's far too soon for that. It's far too soon for anything. Can he even call him a friend? Then again, he did allow him to be on first name basis with him. That isn't a big deal is it? Why is he asking himself all of these questions? Why is he keeping himself up later than usual? He knows that staying up late can be bad for his health and he's gonna have a bigger trouble getting up in the morning, so why?  

Why has that boy been on his mind ever since he first saw him?  

Thinking of that makes Makoto internally cringe. He brushes his bangs back with a hand, that's covered in a single thin layer of sweat, and lies down in his bed, head sinking into thick, soft pillows. The colours from outside seep in and spill onto his ceiling, surrounding him in their softening ambience. Makoto looks up at the ceiling, deciding to call it a night, and closes his eyes. 

It's probably something dumb. It's probably because Sousuke is new, and new people are exciting and you think about them, right? Yes. Right. For example, when the twins were born, Makoto was super ecstatic and looking forward to having two new little siblings, so much that it was all he thought about from the day his parents told him the news to the day they were born.  

The thought puts him to some sort of ease. He snuggles into his pillows and exhales through his nose as a small smile plays on his lips. 

Then again, isn't that because it's family?  

Makoto lifts his head and drops face-down into his pillow, smacking against the soft material with a loud _thwump_. 

\--- 

"Is your Mom home?" Makoto asks the next morning, halfway down Rin's hallway. It's fairly early, meaning Makoto had managed to get enough sleep last night in order to wake himself up properly this morning. 

"Nah." Rin replies. "She works earlier on Wednesdays, usually tends to get a ton of clients towards the end of the week." He says, leading the way toward the kitchen. Makoto replies with a small hum, watching as Rin's little ponytail that he's decided to wear today sways from side to side. He's decided to tie his hair up today, not really a huge change to his looks, but he rarely wears his ponytail to school.  

When they get to the kitchen, Rin turns on the stove, and suddenly begins to pull out bowls and ingredients from different cupboards and the fridge. 

"I'm gonna make myself some breakfast, you don't mind waiting, do you?" Rin asks over his shoulder, looking back at Makoto who takes a seat at the table. The boy shakes his head. 

"No, not at all!" He says back with a little smile. He checks his watch, despite knowing that they have time. "It's just gone half past, and we still have some time before we go to get Haru." He assures Rin, who nods. 

"Cool," The smaller of the two says, reaching up to grab a whisk from the silverware holder on the shelf. He grabs it with no problem, and places it down on the worktop. "Are you hungry? I'm gonna make an omelette, do you want some?" 

"I'm fine, thanks, Rin." Makoto replies, flashing him a warm grin. "I've already had my breakfast, and I can't really eat much of a morning." He continues.  

Rin, knowing that Makoto can't see his face at the moment, rolls his eyes amusedly. He knows that he's just saying that so he won't worry about feeling bad. Makoto, despite being very fit and healthy, sure can eat a lot. There was that one time where they stopped by a small café after an early morning shopping visit; Rin ordered a slice of coffee cake since he doesn't like sweet things all that much, and both Haruka and Makoto ordered slices of chocolate cake. Makoto ended up eating his slice, half of Haruka's and the remainder of Rin's, embarrassingly admitting his love for sweet foods after eating every last crumb. Rin laughs fondly at the memory, causing the olive-haired boy to cock an eyebrow in curiosity. 

Makoto watches as Rin begins the food preparation immediately, chopping the vegetables finely on the chopping board with a knife, and putting them into a bowl. It's like watching a cooking show, which he rarely watches, since he's completely dumbfounded in the kitchen himself. Rin cracks two eggs in a mixing bowl, stirring them with a whisk until it's a sick, yellow colour. It's a western dish, Makoto thinks, as Rin opts to pour it into a regular frying pan other than his tamagoyaki pan, soon adding the vegetables. It's something he must have been introduced to in Australia. 

"So..." Rin speaks above the sizzling, loud enough for his friend to hear. "Any ideas?"  

Ideas? Oh, right! He and Rin were supposed to think of ways to get Haruka to join the music club with them. Makoto presses his index finger to below his lip, pondering in thought. 

"Not really..." He replies, his eyes drooping as he expects some sort of eye-rolling or a sigh from Rin, but one doesn't come. Rin hums in thought, too, flipping over his omelette in the pan.  

"Perhaps we could just straight out ask him. But I doubt that'll work." Rin says, turning to get a plate for himself. Of course that wouldn't work, it isn't that easy to get a simple answer from Haruka.  

"I don't think he'd tell us that easily, and I don't want to drag an answer out of him." Makoto mumbles wistfully, looking vaguely out of Rin's patio doors. "Then it would be harder for both of us..." 

"Yeah." Rin huffs. He knows from personal experiences that luring an answer out from Haruka isn't the greatest idea. "We'll think of something soon." He finishes, too looking out of the large windows. The weather this morning is still mopey. The skies aren't exactly blue, and the morning dew on the day-old spider webs drip endlessly. The pale grey floors are dark, not his idea of the most prettiest view. 

"Yeah." Makoto replies softly. 

Rin plates his food pretty quickly, he sets it down on the table facing Makoto, turning and smirking to himself as he catches the boy stare at the food and take a small sniff. He opens a drawer, taking out a knife and fork other than chopsticks.  

"This smells amazing Rin!" Makoto muses, the enticing smell of cooked vegetables reaching his nose. "Did you learn how to cook this in Australia?" He asked, not taking his eyes off of the omelette. 

"Yep. I learnt how to cook a lot there, surprisingly. My homestay parents were pretty good at cooking. I'll cook you one of their dishes sometime. I know one you'll like." Rin says, walking over towards the table and taking a seat opposite Makoto. He digs in immediately, morning hunger eating at him. He chews once or twice and swallows with a fond smile. "Tastes good!"  

"Well then, I'm looking forward to it!" Makoto says, flashing a warm smile at Rin. He watches with curious eyes as Rin cuts himself quite a large piece, pushing it forward toward the end of his plate. 

"Try some." Rin says, handing his fork over to Makoto. 

"Oh, no I couldn't! This is your breakfast, I can't eat it." Makoto replies with a small frown. Rin rolls his eyes. 

"C'mon, I usually don't eat the whole thing anyway." Rin scowls, despite it being a complete lie. He loves omelette and would usually scoff the whole thing in a matter of minutes. 

Makoto gives the offering a suggestive look, almost making Rin laugh as he swears he can see his mouth watering a little. He pushes the food a little more forward with his knife, holding out the fork still. 

"I know but still, it's important to eat of a morning otherwise-!" 

In the blink of an eye, Rin spears the omelette with his fork and places it in front of Makoto's mouth. Makoto pouts for a moment before taking the fork from Rin's grip into his own, and pops the food into his mouth, his resistful expression immediately changing, putting a smirk on his friend's face. 

"Mmm!" Makoto hums happily, nodding frantically at Rin. "Delicious!" He chirps once he's swallowed. Rin gives him a small nod in thanks, taking his fork back and cutting up the rest of his omelette and scoffing the lot in a matter of minutes.  

"Morning, Makoto!" Gou calls out from behind them, dressed in her uniform with a bright smile on her face, but that soon drops. "Huh? You made omelette without telling me?" She pouts. 

"Good morning, Kou!" 

"I thought you were still asleep." Rin replies, he stands up from his seat, taking his empty plate over to the sink. "I could cook you one up right now b-" 

"It's fine, I don't think I'd have time to eat it, Chigusa'll be here any minute now." Gou replies, straightening out her hair. 

There's a dead silence as Rin doesn't reply.  

" _I don't think he's over it yet_." Makoto whispers to Gou. 

\--- 

From one cooked breakfast to another, the scent of mackerel smacks them in the face as soon as they pass through Haruka's door. The evidence itself sits in the pan, frying away as Haruka himself stands, watching over it carefully. 

"You didn't let me eat it yesterday or the day before, so I'm eating it today." Haruka says sternly, tending to his precious breakfast. Makoto allows him, as it's only fair, but Rin is reluctant to say anything, keeping an eye on the time. 

"We might have to take the train today..." Rin hints with a mumble, but the other two hear him above the fish sizzling away in the pan. Makoto catches on, checking his watch immediately. 

"You're right! It's almost twenty past!" Makoto says with a slight panic, in turn causing both himself and Rin to look at Haruka with an uneasy expression. 

"I'm eating my mackerel." Haruka retorts simply, not paying his friends any attention. 

"Haru, we're gonna be late!" Rin snaps as he throws his bag over his shoulder.  

"I said I'm eating it today." Haruka snaps back. 

Makoto winces between the two, hoping that they don't break out into another silly argument that they don't have time for. 

"Do you really want your first late on your third day? Not even a week in?" Rin taunts, trying to make it a fair argument. However, as it's Haruka, he fails. 

"I don't care." 

"Well you should. Can't you save that mackerel for lunch?" Rin pleads, checking the clock that hangs on Haruka's kitchen wall again. He's surprised he didn’t set the time to make it look like it's much earlier than it is, so that he could sit down and cook his mackerel and enjoy it in peace. 

Haruka huffs, turning off the stove and taking his bento from out of his bag, opening the tub full of rice and mackerel, and waits for the mackerel he was heating up to cool down a little before literally placing it on top of the mackerel that's already there. 

"Thank you." Rin says, pushing himself off of the door frame. Haruka doesn't say anything. 

"Oh! Haru," Makoto pipes up as they walk towards the train station with an idea in mind. Rin listens in, too, recognising that tone in Makoto's voice. "I've decided to join the music club." He says. Haruka looks up at him with genuine interest for a moment, still wearing his usual frown. 

Rin flashes Makoto a quick hopeful grin, and he returns it. That might work. Rin clears his throat, hoping to keep up the encouragement. 

"Now there's three members! I can't wait for tomorrow." Rin replies enthusiastically. Makoto hums in  content in reply, but there isn't a single move from Haruka. 

"We can finally play our instruments inside school as well as at home!" Makoto smiles, and it looks like he's close to hitting the nail on the head - Haruka's eye gives a sudden twitch. 

"Yeah, no more waiting until we get home! And I can finally take my guitar out places with me." Rin chortles, almost laughing at how much Haruka's movements have changed in the past ten seconds. He speeds up a little all of a sudden. 

"Oh, speaking of which," Makoto buts in, his tone a little different from before, turning Rin's head toward him. "Should we bring our instruments tomorrow? I was thinking before I left, since it's the first day, would it just be an induction?" 

"Hmmm..." Rin ponders for a moment. He himself hadn't even thought about that. Trust Makoto to have the brains. "I was just gonna bring my guitar with me, but now that you say that, I suppose it would be an induction... Huh." He says, getting a little quiet, making Makoto giggle. 

"I think I'll leave mine at home tomorrow." Makoto decides. Rin nods in agreement. Haruka is walking slightly ahead of them, hurrying to get onto the train. Rin motions this to Makoto with a quick movement of his head, and Makoto nods quickly, before the two of them catch up to him. 

"So anyway," 

"Anyway!" Makoto chirps, returning to Haruka's right side, whilst Rin traps him between them on his left. "When I think about it, I can't wait either. I haven't played with you for a while." Makoto says, both for show and in memory. The last time the three of them played music together was... Not that long after Rin came home, he thinks. 

"Yeah! I wonder if we'll sound better." Rin replies, keeping an eye on the boy between them, who is dead-set on getting onto the train. Rin raises an eyebrow at this, and then looks to Makoto, who is already looking at him. He shrugs a little. 

"Yeah... I wonder." 

\--- 

Once they've boarded and the train starts moving, the three boys settle into their seats, their conversation topic being how much the train ticket prices have gone up in price since the last time they were late, as they watch other passengers pay for their tickets. 

And of course, it wouldn't be a normal day if three-quarters of the passengers didn't stare at Rin the entire journey. 

"I think they've gone up at least 110 yen..." Makoto murmurs, watching in sympathy as an elderly lady fishes out some coins from her purse with a confused look plastering her face. 

"It's ridiculous. Why are they pricing us more for things that are everyday necessities?" Rin complains, a little loudly, making the ticket inspector give him a sideways glance. Rin shrugs it off, looking right back at him. 

"I think he heard you." Haruka says. He sits between the two, fiddling with his mp3 player, making a playlist of the songs that he feels like listening to today. He knows that he told his friends he'd stop listening to his music during lessons, but if they ask him, he'll say it's for lunch, or just for listening to later on that day. 

"Good. I hope he did, I think everyone on this train agrees with me. How long until we're spending half of our savings just to get to and from school?"  

"Hey, Matsuoka, shut up." Says a voice from the other side of the train. Rin scowls and snaps his head around, getting up from his seat in a flash, looking for the person responsible. 

"Rin, _please_ don't-"   
   
"Yo! Sousuke!" Rin suddenly calls out with a grin, and the boy himself suddenly emerges from the small crowd, making his way over to them. "Hey, that's right, this train stops in Samezuka first!" 

 _Oh no._  

"Yeah. You didn't know?" Sousuke says with a small smirk, holding up a closed fist for Rin to bump his own against. "You used to live there, y'know."  

"I know I know, but I completely forgot! You get this train every morning?" Rin asks, though he feels a little dumb for asking. Of course he does, dumbass. 

"Well duh. But I usually get it a little earlier than this. I had to take care of something at home real quick." Sousuke says, a little too quickly. Rin raises an eyebrow again. 

"Huh? Is everything alright at home? Your mom and dad are okay, right?" Rin says all of a sudden with a genuine hint of concern. Sousuke looks a little taken aback, but then brushing it off as nothing. 

"Oh, I didn't tell you. I live on my own." 

"What?" 

"Yeah," Sousuke says calmly, reaching up with one hand to itch the back of his neck. He closes his eyes for a brief moment. "I got my own apartment when I moved back to Samezuka. It's not all that great though. One bedroom with little space..." 

"That's so cool!" Rin says with glee like a little kid. Sousuke seems to think that, too, as he keeps a straight face. "How is it living on your own?" 

"That's why I'm on this train. Y'see, I'm not _exactly_ living on my own." Sousuke replies, looking off out of the windows for a second. Rin hums confusedly in reply. "I'm looking after my Aunt's dog." 

"A dog? Are you just looking after it for today?" Rin says. He doesn't think he's ever seen Sousuke interact with animals before. There was this one time though, when there was a little black kitten that always used to play outside around Rin's home. It would look up at Sousuke sometimes, and he would always hesitate before petting it, but it wasn't very often that he did. 

"Yeah, and she's a real little fucker..." Sousuke scowls, looking back out of the window. "But I'm not just looking after her for today. I'm kinda stuck with it." 

"How so?" Rin asks. For some reason, this is all very interesting. He can't help but imagine Sousuke struggling with a dog. Does he even like dogs? Well, judging by his recent way of describing the pet, he'll take that as a no. 

"My Aunt works away in Tokyo, but her work hours are long, and she's constantly having to leave it alone at home for hours on end." He states. Makoto, who still remains sitting below them, frowns. He loves animals. "So, I said I'll look after it when I move back to Samezuka. Little fuck wrecked my house when she first came in." Sousuke continues, his scowl never fading from his face, earning a small laugh from Rin. 

"You like dogs, don't you, Makoto?" Rin says, turning to look at the boy. Makoto jumps all of a sudden, feeling two pairs of eyes on him and the call of his name. He looks up slowly, meeting the curious eyes of Rin and _him._ Stood directly above him. 

 _Alright._ _Just keep it cool._  

"Yes!" Makoto squeaks out. "I love dogs, any animal really. They're so cute." He says, flashing his iconic smile. "I wanted a dog when I was younger, and when we finally got one, we didn't have him for long. My mom's allergic to fur." Makoto says, with a fond frown. 

"I wish _I_ was allergic to fur..." Sousuke grumbles, earning yet another chuckle from Rin. 

"Do you dislike her that much, Sousuke?" Makoto asks, hesitating a moment before using his first name. He said yesterday that it was completely fine, right? 

"She's torn my bed sheets twice, and gets fur everywhere. And she cries at night, too." He complains, adding that last little part quietly. Makoto pouts at the image in his head of a little puppy whining. 

"Surely it isn't _that_ bad..." Makoto almost whispers, waiting for Sousuke to look at him with that scowl. But he doesn't. 

"It'll get better, I suppose." Sousuke muses.  

"So, have you lived on your own since you got back from Tokyo?" Rin asks, seeing as Makoto has decided to awkwardly drop the small chatter between the two. Sousuke nods, turning back to face him. 

"Yeah. I didn't want to live with my parents and all of their damn fuss and work shit everywhere, whilst I have to stress with work myself. I thought it would be a good idea, seeing as I'm getting older and becoming more of an adult." Sousuke says with a harsh tone, putting a sympathetic look on Makoto's face. Surely he still loves his parents, it's just personal space, perhaps. 

"Sounds fun." Rin jokes, making Sousuke roll his eyes in a half-amused tone. "I'll have to come visit you sometime." 

"You aren't doing anything today, are you?" Sousuke asks, hinting at the obvious. Rin looks back at him with a little surprise. He wasn't expecting him to ask him to come over today. Saying that... 

"I don't think so... I mean, I already got all of our shopping done a couple days ago, so... Nope! I don't think I'm doing anything today." Rin replies, noting in his head that he'll have to text his mom later, or he could just tell Gou.  

"You can come around later, if you'd like." Sousuke says a little discreetly, it's rude to ask in front of Rin's friends, but he doesn't know them really. Hopefully they'll understand.  

"Sure!" Rin beams, showing his toothy smile.  

There's only a few more stops until they reach school, but the journey seems to be dragging on forever. Makoto looks up to take a glance out of the window to confirm this, but of course, thanks to his newfound nature and confusing feelings, he ends up looking up at Rin's best friend. Luckily, he doesn't look back at him. 

 _Alright. Remember what you told yourself last night. It's because he's new, and new things are exciting and they attract you. You aren't interested in him that way. He just looks nice, is all._  

The patches of morning sunlight wash over his persistent teal eyes and his sun-kissed skin, bringing out his strong cheekbones and shining upon his dark brunette hair. He looks like something from a magazine, one of those magazines he would sometimes find other girls reading, or one of those men from the advertisements for underclothing that he would always see on the sides of some buildings and hidden in said magazines.  

Makoto has to literally force himself to look over towards Haruka when he begins to think of Sousuke _as_ one of those models, trying to think of anything else to distract himself. So he choses to watch the boy carry on in his own little world, still creating his playlists. 

"Good choice." Sousuke says all of a sudden, also looking directly at Haruka. Rin turns to face the boy, too. 

Haruka lifts his head groggily, feeling _three_ pairs of eyes on him. He decides to look up at Sousuke, raising an eyebrow subtly. 

"Ninth Kite. I saw them on your mp3 just now. They're a good band. Good choice." Sousuke says. However, Haruka still isn't catching on. He continues to look up at the taller boy with a glower. 

"Who?" Haruka replies slowly, putting a confused look on Sousuke's face. 

"Ninth Kite. The band you have on your mp3." Sousuke almost spits, literally spelling it out for him. 

"I don't care about the band, just the music." Haruka replies, carrying on with making his playlist. Sousuke doesn't say anything, but he lowers his eyebrows. 

Rin literally feels his mood drop as he takes in Haruka's words. He thought that maybe, just maybe, Haruka would consider joining. But now, all hopes of which have began to disappear. 

 _'I don't care about the band. Just the music.'_  

Makoto feels a sudden change in tension. He's a little disheartened too, but it doesn't mean that they should give up. He looks up toward Rin, giving him an encouraging smile. Rin returns the smile, but not as happy as he was before. 

Sooner or later, they arrive at school with 6 and a half minutes to get to class. Haruka wraps his earphones around his mp3 player before tucking it into the inside pocket of his blazer. 

"I hope you weren't planning on listening to those in class..." Makoto says to Haruka as they's walking fast paced towards their school.  

"No. I was just making playlists for break, and lunch." Haruka responds as he breaks out into a small jog, following in the path of Rin and Sousuke a little further ahead of them. 

"I hope you're telling me the truth." Makoto replies with a small grin, also jogging.  

Haruka darts his eyes around their surroundings. 

\--- 

Unintentionally, Haruka doesn't actually get chance to listen to any of said playlists in class. He does, during lunch however. 

Whilst he dwelled in his favourite melodies, Rin opted to help Makoto out with both his disapplication and application form, more or less copying down what Rin wrote. Leaning on his bag, he writes the same reason Rin wrote for leaving the Literature club,  'Found a better club that will have a bigger impact on my future.', as it's more or less true, and fills in the rest with his personal details, doing the same for his application form. For his reasons for joining, he writes; 'This club may have an impact on my future, and sounds fun!'  

Once he's finished and handed it in, he returns back to the roof, and undergoes the same process he did on Monday. Giving Haruka and Rin their small snack from home, before awkwardly handing over Sousuke's again. Sousuke's hands are slightly bigger than his, his nails are cut and clean, and his skin looks so soft. 

Makoto only eats three quarters of his snack, due to an odd feeling in his stomach, handing over the last part to Rin. 

\--- 

Once Rin has waved his goodbyes to Haruka and Makoto after school, he heads off towards the train station with Sousuke, who's chatting to him minimally about what to expect at Sousuke's appartment. Makoto waves them off both on his own and Haruka's behalf, turning around to head home once he hears Rin's laughter growing quieter in the distance. Well, at least he's cheered up from this morning, Makoto thinks. 

"Haru, let's go." Makoto says gently. Haruka nods, turning around. The two walk in a warm silence. It's not unusual from Haruka's point of view, as he's usually quiet on the way home. They haven't walked home without Rin since he left for Australia. "We haven't walked home without Rin for a while, huh? I hope he has a good time at Sousuke's." 

"You sound like a mom, again." Haruka states. Makoto whines. 

"Seriously, I don't know why you two call me that..." He mutters quietly. But as it's already quiet, Haruka picks up on it. He decides not to say anything. Makoto clears his throat. "I'm getting a little excited for tomorrow." He says, smiling fondly. 

"Why?" Haruka asks, looking up ahead. 

"Hm? Well, why not?" Makoto chuckles. "New things are exciting." He recalls from his late night thoughts. "I hope it's gonna be worth it. But with Rin being there, I know it will." 

Haruka doesn't say anything. 

"But... I'm not _that_ excited. And it probably won't be as worth it as I want it to be." Makoto leads off with a small sullen look on his face. Although Haruka hasn't asked why, Makoto feels the need to tell him. "...You aren't there." 

Haruka glowers into the ground below him. He sighs through his nose, looking off to the side. 

"You'll be alright without me." Haruka says, a little coldly. Makoto's frown deepens. At this point, his hopes are almost nonexistent. But they haven't died down yet. 

"Haru..." Makoto begins in a soft tone. "Why aren't you joining the music club?"  

Haruka looks a little caught off guard, although he knew it was coming. He turns his head away from Makoto, who's starting to look a little concerned. Is it something deep? 

"I just don't want to." Haruka says simply, still refusing to make eye contact with his best friend. Makoto pouts. He knows that's not the real reason, and he knows that Haruka knows that, too. 

"Be honest. Please." Makoto says meekly, concern evident in his voice. Haruka turns to look at the long walk in front of them, not saying a thing. Makoto begins to acknowledge the fact that Haruka just doesn't want to tell him. He hopes it isn't something upsetting to Haruka. He exhales through his nose, quietly. 

"I don't want the stress." Haruka begins, making Makoto immediately look over at him. "...And I want to be left alone." He says, sounding more realistic. Makoto raises an eyebrow. Stress? Being alone? 

"Haru, what do you mean?" Makoto asks, a little taken aback by Haruka's reasoning. 

"I mean what I say. It's too much hastle." Is all Haruka says, and before long, they're at the bottom of the steps that lead to Haruka's house. Makoto feels genuinely upset, watching as Haruka turns away from him to ascend the steps. 

"See you later, Haru." Makoto says, not as lively as usual. 

Haruka pauses for a moment before turning around. 

"Sorry." He says calmly. Makoto looks up at him, giving him a small sympathetic smile. "...I'll see you later." Haruka finishes, turning and climbing up the steps. 

All Makoto hears is the thuds of Haruka's shoes against the cold cobble steps, and the sounds of the nearby waves of the beach quietening down. He's more upset for Rin, rather than for himself. He knows how much this could mean to Rin.  

Hopefully, just hopefully, there's something that's going to change Haruka's mind. 

Makoto walks the rest of the journey alone, in silence. He doesn't want to plug in his earphones and listen to his music, or even take out his phone. Instead, he spends the short walk trying to figure out just what Haruka meant. He's known Haruka since they were babies, so it's not hard to read his mind, or know exactly what it is that he wants or needs.  

Let's see... He doesn't want stress. Well, that's pretty reasonable. It may cause stress for him, having to participate with other people he may not know and communicate with them fully. He finds it a little hard to get along with others instantly, as shown with Sousuke. 

Makoto just doesn't understand the whole 'wanting to be left alone.' part. Perhaps it could relate back to the fact that he'll have to make friends and communicate with others? Or maybe it could mean that he'd rather play music on his own, he doesn't want to make a band. He just wants to play his guitar by himself, however he likes. 

The olive haired boy thinks harder, almost missing the small set of steps to his house as he's deep in thought and reason. He walks slow, reaching the pathway to his house almost two minutes after ascending the steps. 

It bothers him throughout lunch, earning some questioning looks from his parents, and it bothers him as he completes his homework. It bothers him whilst he plays with his younger siblings, and it bothers him as he cleans his room. 

But just before he closes his eyes at night, it all comes together in his head.  

He doesn't want to be noticed. He doesn't want fame, or recognition. He doesn't want 'fans' or anybody following him around. 

Haruka wants to be left alone. 

   
 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ninth Kite isn't actually a band. I made them up lmao please don't go looking for them, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! It lets me know that I'm doing well and gives me encouragement to keep working hard.
> 
>  
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	7. Man's Best Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin and Sousuke have a few problems to deal with. One of them being small, loud, and extremely fluffy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AYYYYYYYYYYYYY
> 
> Chapter Seven is here, hurrah! 
> 
> Yet again, I've been kinda busy since the last update, I've had my mock exams at college, and it was my birthday on Monday! //extra points if you can guess how old I am// So I apologise for that.
> 
> I worked hard on this chapter and I think you'll all like it, hopefully!
> 
> Thank you to those who have been patient with me.

When Sousuke pushes his apartment door open, there's a moment of pure silence before Rin breaks out into a fit of laughter. 

"No way!" Rin manages to stifle out through his laughter. He almost folds over entirely from laughing so hard, putting a rather irritated look on Sousuke's face. "You're shitting me! _No way!_ " He wheezes.  

Yapping excitedly at Sousuke's feet, stands a small, black and tan pomeranian puppy. Her fur is thick, almost covering her eyes and her little face just about pokes out. She's basically a ball of fur with stumpy little legs. Rin can't contain his laughter. 

"Shut up!" Sousuke snaps, looking over his shoulder to give Rin a burning glare. It's not really that effective, but his laughter dies down a little bit. "And _you_ shut up, too." He continues, bending down to stroke the puppy.  

However, she has different ideas; dodging his hand and wagging her tail excitedly. Her yapping is shrill and in turn causes both boys to wince.  

"What's her name?" Rin says above the barking once he's stopped chuckling. Sousuke's face scrunches up before he turns to answer Rin. 

"It's- CHOUKO, _SHUT_ _UP!"_

"Chouko?" Rin repeats, watching as the puppy suddenly dashes off from Sousuke's feet and runs around the living area like a lunatic, still yapping away. "Woah!" 

Sousuke sighs through gritted teeth, watching as his Aunt's pet makes a mess of his living room once again; almost knocks over his lamp and spilling over his magazines. The little dog stops for a moment, turning to face her owner with her small pink tongue hanging out, almost as if she were to mock him. 

"Calm down, damnit!" Sousuke yells at her, taking a few steps towards her. Seeing that Sousuke is nearing her, she bolts off from the cushion that she stood on, and flies past them into the kitchen, knocking papers off of the table and covering the floor in them. Sousuke sighs again. 

"Does she do this everytime you come home?" Rin asks in small shock, he's stood frozen a few steps behind Sousuke in bewilderment. 

"Only when I come home from school. She's fine if I'm just popping out to the shops, or going out to check my mail..." Sousuke mutters, taking off his blazer and hanging it up. Rin follows, figuring something out in his head. 

"Huh? Wait, she's on her own whilst you're at school?" Rin says, his shock growing. Sousuke turns to face him with a scowl on his face. 

"Don't make me feel bad for it. I leave the radio on for her so that she doesn't feel alone, and I always make sure she has plenty of food and fresh water before I leave." He snaps, turning away to follow said dog in the kitchen. "And if you thought that was bad, wait for this." 

First, there's the sound of a cupboard opening, followed by a rattling sound. And as if the first time Chouko went bezerk wasn't crazy enough, Rin can literally hear Sousuke's teeth grinding together as the small dog runs frantically out of the kitchen, doing a small victory run in the living room and barking loudly again. 

"Hey! Come here!" Sousuke yells out from the kitchen.  

Rin watches as Chouko pants, bounding over the mess she made of Sousuke's living room, back into the kitchen, her little feet pitter-pattering as they go. It's cute, Rin thinks as he walks over to the L-shaped couch that sits against the cream walls of Sousuke's living room. He fixes the cushions that Chouko had knocked over before taking a seat. 

From here, he can see into the kitchen a little bit. It seems quite an alright size for a small apartment. Sousuke bends down to empty some of the pet food into the bowl with an agitated look on his face. Chouko's tail wags as she eats, obviously enjoying her food. 

It's weird seeing Sousuke looking after a dog. Especially _that_ dog. He had always said he preferred dogs to cats, but Rin had never imagined him with one. But there he is, and there's Chouko. He seems to be pretty willing to look after her, even though he doesn't necessarily look it. It's just something to show everyone that Sousuke isn't the big scary monster a lot of people perceive him as. 

Well, with that funny looking ball of fur, there's no way anyone can look at Sousuke and take him as a predator. 

But as he looks down at her, it's kinda clear that he cares about her. He would have just left her alone in his Aunt's home if he didn't. 

"Slow down, idiot!" Sousuke suddenly scolds her once a small choking noise emits from the kitchen. Rin chuckles to himself lightly. 

Sousuke scratches the top of her head before returning to full height, coming back into the living room. 

"That'll keep her quiet for like two minutes." Sousuke says, leaning on the door frame. "I usually wait a little before feeding her when I come home. Let her get all of her excitement out and then feed her, so that she doesn’t choke. But _someone_ had to go ahead and make me feel bad." 

"Hey, don't blame _me_ because your dog got too excited!" Rin calls out across the room, sitting up straight on the couch. Sousuke rolls his eyes. 

"One problem down, about another 100 to go..." Sousuke says with a sigh, looking down at the mess before his feet. 

"You and me both. Where the fuck do we start in here?" Rin mutters jokingly, breaking out into a dumb grin. Chouko makes a strange sound again. There's a little pause before Sousuke lets out a small snicker before blowing into a chuckle. Rin joins in, his eyes creasing as his grin stretches across his face. 

"It's been too long," Sousuke says through his laughter. "How long again? Five years?" 

"Yeah, _way_ too long!" Rin replies, calming down a little. "You haven't changed one damn bit." 

Sousuke grins fondly at Rin's comment, though he feels he can't say the same for him. Has Rin changed at all? He... Hasn't talked about his dream much. It's only been a few days since they met again, but that's all he ever used to talk about when they were younger, day after day. Perhaps he's just matured a little. 

He couldn't have scrapped that dream. No way. 

"What do you mean?" Sousuke says, bending down to collect the papers at his feet that fell from his coffee table. "It's only been a few days since we met again." 

"I can just tell. It’s one of those things." Rin says, following Sousuke as he moves from off of the couch to help clean up Chouko's mess. "Heh, I bet you still do that annoying tapping thing when you hear a song you like." 

"I do not." Sousuke spits. To be fair, he has caught himself doing it once or twice. "I bet you still slide around your room on your knees doing your damn air guitars." 

" _I do not_!" Rin snaps, lifting his head up all of a sudden to shoot Sousuke a look. Unlike Sousuke, Rin hasn’t lied. 

Sousuke laughs through his nose before continuing to pick up the sheets. They're made up of  school work and his apartment lease. He can't get the two mixed up. Luckily, his apartment lease is a slightly duller shade of white, so it's not hard to tell them apart.  

It's quiet again until Sousuke remembers something, and laughs lowly. 

"What?" Rin says, sounding a little odd. He hasn't heard Sousuke laugh so much in the space of twenty minutes. 

"I just remembered something." Sousuke begins, shaking his head. "Do you remember that one time you were sliding around on your knees doing your air guitar, and you slid face first into your door?" 

" _You said you'd never bring that up again!_ " 

"We didn’t agree on anything." Sousuke taunts, hiding his smirk from Rin by not looking up to meet his face. Rin stays quiet, wallowing in his embarrassment. He focuses on cleaning for now, hoping that's all Sousuke has to say. Damnit, he though Sousuke would have forgotten about that by now. 

Before the silence becomes awkward, Chouko announces that she has finished eating by happily walking into the living room behind Sousuke, letting out a small yap. It's kinda comical actually. She gives a small shake before hopping up onto the couch. 

"Chouko, get down!" Sousuke calls, standing up and tapping the stack of papers against the table before putting them down. Chouko looks up at him for a moment, before lowering her head. Sousuke tuts. "You're gonna get fur all over the couch!" He scolds, nearing closer to the small dog, who refuses to move. Sousuke grumbles, tutting again. "You've got some cheek..."   
   
Rin tries to hide a smirk, turning his face towards the slanted pile of magazines. But he turns back around almost a second later when he hears a growl. 

Sousuke stands above the dog with his hands placed under her belly. Chouko bares her teeth, she doesn't have many since she's a puppy. She growls, digging her claws deeper into the material.  

" _Get... Down!_ " Sousuke grunts. He holds her with one hand now, using the other to pull her tiny claws out of the couch. Her growling grows louder. "You aren't any good with dogs, are you Rin?" Sousuke sighs, letting go of his hold on the dog. She settles back down, tucking her legs underneath her. 

Rin ponders for a moment. He's never had a dog before, but he's been okay with cats he supposes. There was this one time he hid a family of abandoned kittens in his garage; he fed them milk every morning noon and night, before his father found them one night and told him that they needed a family who had the time and a proofed house to look after them. They scratched him a lot, that's for sure. Anyway, aren't cats kinda like dogs? They're just smaller, and less of a hassle, right? With that thought in mind, Rin taps the floor next to him experimentally. 

"Here, Chouko!" He calls out to her. Chouko's ears perk up but the rest of her body doesn't move at all. Rin sulks, tapping the floor a little more harshly. "Come on!" He says in sweet voice, almost making Sousuke laugh again. 

"I don't think she's moving." He finally admits. Sousuke rolls his eyes at the puppy, before leaving her be. "Alright, fine. But just this once, okay?" He says. Almost as if she were agreeing with him, Chouko lowers her head at Sousuke. 

"So, do you want anything to drink, Rin? I have some cans of cola left I think..." Sousuke asks, turning towards the kitchen. 

"Uh, yeah, cola sounds good. Thanks." Rin replies, looking up from the magazines. 

Rin has to force his mouth shut to prevent his laughter when Chouko hops off of the couch following Sousuke into the kitchen. 

"God damnit, really Chouko?" Sousuke groans, hearing his dog's claws against the tile flooring. 

Rin lets out a short puff of laughter through his nose, before looking back down at the magazine pile. Where was he? There's a lot of them, that's for certain. They seem to go on forever, knocked over in a line like fallen dominoes. Speaking of which, since when did Sousuke collect magazines? He's curious now, he reaches out for one in the middle of the pile, the back of it seeming familiar... 

Oh. Now it makes sense why it looked familiar. It's a music magazine. " _Unplugged Magazine_ " to be exact. Rin remembers seeing his father's face on this magazine a few times. But he doesn't want to think about that right now. So, does Sousuke collect these? Curiosity gets the better of him as he leans forward to grab the magazine behind. Again, it's another Unplugged.  

He files through the rest of them, the majority of them being music magazines. Several issues of _Unplugged_ , _The Note_ , _Rock Weekly_ and a few health and exercise magazines look him in the eye. Dejectedly, he looks at them, thinking of how much Sousuke would have actually wanted to be a part of the Music Club. If he had the chance, would he jump at it? Of course. There has to be a way he can do something about it. 

Not even the sound of said boy re-entering his living room, two cans in one hand and a lint roller in the other hand distracts him from his own thoughts. Sousuke places both cans down on the coffee table before grumbling to himself as he wipes the roller over the patch of his couch where Chouko was previously sitting.  

Rin thinks to himself, still looking at the magazines in his arms. Sousuke is one of his best friends. Just like with Haruka, it wouldn't be as memorable without him. 

"You can borrow some if you want." Sousuke speaks up, noticing Rin's silence and sudden interest in his magazines. "They're a little old though, so don't go writing in or ordering shit." 

"...No, it's okay." Rin replies, collecting the rest of the magazines into his arms. Sousuke doesn't say anything in reply. Instead, he turns around and carries on collecting and sorting out the sheets on his side of the floor. "Do you keep these in order of date, Sousuke?" 

"Nah, I'm not _that_ organised." 

"Thanks for the drink, by the way." Rin says suddenly. Sousuke detects a sudden change to Rin's behavior since he entered the apartment. He decides to stay quiet about it for now, but once his sheets are sorted out and back in order neatly on his table, he notes that Rin hasn't said another word, and is still slowly putting the magazines back. 

"Rin." Sousuke says, sitting down on his couch, watching the smaller boy as he blinks quickly, dropping one of the magazines. "Something on your mind?" 

"Oh, no it's nothing. The magazines, I uh..." Rin begins, hurriedly stacking them and placing them back down the side of the couch with their spines facing outwards. "Nostalgia!" Rin says with a grin. "My father used to be in them sometimes. He was on the cover once or twice." 

"Ah..." Sousuke says. Rin's father is a touchy subject, so he decides to change the conversation topic. However, he can’t think of anything else to talk about whilst he's still feeling a little concerned about Rin. So he sits quietly on one end of the couch, whilst Rin plops down on the other side. Rin lets out a deep breath before reaching over and grabbing his can, opening it with one hand, the hand he grabbed it with. Sousuke notes this as he watches Rin, keeping an eye out for any facial expressions that show that he's not just saying he's okay. 

"Anyways," Rin says, leaning back on the couch with can in hand. He takes a quick sip before turning to look over at Sousuke. "I've been thinking about something." 

Sousuke's shoulders perk up at this. He sits up slightly, looking back at Rin with a calm expression. 

"How did you even know I'd be at Iwatobi High?" 

"That's the thing, I didn't. You being you, I thought you'd end up at some kinda private school..." Sousuke mutters, eyebrows creasing as he looks over at the boy in question. It was kinda obvious he was going to ask this question at one point. 

"A private school wasn't even on my mind at the time of applying..." Rin puts it simply, gaining an even stranger look from Sousuke. 

"Why?" The taller asks after a short silence. 

Rin genuinely looks a little taken aback, his mouth lingers open, eyes widened slightly. But then, he closes his eyes, and sighs through his nose. A warm smile makes itself known on Rin's face. 

"Well, my friends." He says flat out. "My friends go to Iwatobi High, I can't leave them behind. Hell, I left them when I went to Australia, I can't avoid them for the rest of my life, I don't want to do that." Rin says, his smile still shining. "Besides, I told them I'd come back." 

Sousuke's expression doesn't soften. His frown deepens a little, as he looks off to the side, before looking back over at Rin. 

"But is it worth it?" Sousuke says. Rin raises an eyebrow. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Are you gonna get the best from this school?" Sousuke continues, making direct eye contact with Rin. "What you're hoping to achieve? ...Your dream? Are you gonna get the best from a _public_ school?" 

Rin goes back to looking dumbfounded. What is Sousuke trying to get at, here? What's with all the questions all of a sudden? He blinks. Once. Twice. 

"Is it really worth sacrificing your dream just to be with your friends?" 

This time Rin almost snaps. 

"Of course. If anything, my friends are helping me to achieve my dream." Rin says sternly, looking oddly confident. "Besides, there's the music club now. Isn't that just _perfect_ for me?" 

"Yes. For you, but it’s not just _your_ club, is it? It's helping others. Not just you." Sousuke replies quickly. His eyes talk just as much as he does, they flash a vibrant sea green with every word. 

"What are you on about?" Rin says. He just doesn't understand. One minute, they're laughing, the next they're on the brink of an argument. 

Nothing has changed at all. 

"What I'm saying is _why_ should you share the attention with everybody? You're Rin _Matsuoka_. You deserve this dream more than anybody else in this club. Music is your passion. Everybody else probably joined because it sounded fun. It's a public high school club." Sousuke says, his eyebrows lowering over his glowing eyes. Rin almost crushes the full can in his hand. 

"Makoto is passionate about music, too." Rin replies, trying not to bare his teeth. He really doesn't want to get into an argument right now. "And I don't care how many members join, I'm still going to make it profitable for me, and everybody else." 

Sousuke bites his tongue, turning his head away from the red-haired boy and nodding slowly. He understands from Rin's body language that he could snap into rage at any moment. He doesn't want to get into an argument either, but he wants to get his point across to Rin as much as he can, as subtly ss he can. But it looks like that won't just work so easily. 

"Makoto, he joined, huh." Sousuke says after yet another pause. Rin takes a much needed sip from his can before nodding, even though he knows Sousuke isn't looking at him. "He's the... Tall one, am I right?" 

"Yeah, that's him. I thought he'd end up to be taller than you, but I was wrong." Rin said with an amused huff. 

"He seems to be literally an inch smaller than me. Though I suppose it's not often I find people around my height here... I don't think I saw a single person other than my father who was around my height in Tokyo." Sousuke says, seeming to calm down. He reaches across for his cola, opening it with two hands. 

"I was taller than Makoto when we were younger. When we were like... Six." Rin mutters to himself, though Sousuke hears him and doesn't comment on it. 

"Makoto seems like the type of guy to join because _you_ are." Sousuke says all of a sudden, flipping Rin's switch unintentionally once again. 

"No he isn't!" Rin calls out. "Makoto's been playing since he was a kid, I can say that because I was there! He loves music, too!" 

"How come he didn't join the same day you did?" Sousuke asks. Even he himself thinks he's taking this a little too far now. 

"Because he had to think about it, probably. Leaving one club and suddenly joining another is quite a bit to think about." 

"Not really..." Sousuke almost whispers. Rin rolls his eyes. When is he gonna stop? 

"Maybe it isn't Makoto's dream, but since he's passionate about music, won't that have an affect on the club, which will have an affect on _me_?" Rin says, in attempt to argue back against him. 

It shuts him up, that's for sure. 

"I don't want to argue. Let's just move on from it, alright?" Sousuke says, looking him in the eye before turning to take another sip of his cola. Rin feels like scoffing out loud. He doesn't want to argue even though _he_ started it? Whatever, Sousuke doesn't want to argue, and neither does he. 

Rin takes another sip of his cola, slurping a little bit to cover up the silence, hoping for something to come up or for Chouko to start behaving badly again. 

"So... What does Makoto do, music-wise?" 

Rin places his drink back down on the table with mild surprise. Rin knows Sousuke's avoiding the topic of Haruka, since that's all he ever used to talk about when they were younger. Sousuke would probably get annoyed and throw him out through the window if he brought him up, being sick of hearing about him when they were younger, especially now since he's met the guy, and had the guy force fish down his throat. 

Heh, that's something to bring up 10 years from now. He'll see how Sousuke likes that. 

"Makoto plays the keyboard." Rin states. This time it's Sousuke's turn to look dumbfounded. 

"Keyboard?" He repeats, raising an eyebrow at Rin. Rin nods, humming approvingly. 

"Yup!" 

"He doesn't really look like a keyboard kinda guy..." 

"What's that supposed to mean? He plays the piano, too. Would 'Makoto plays the piano' make more sense?" Rin says, and now both of them are dumbfounded. What's so wrong about Makoto's instrument? 

"For some reason, that sounds more like it." Sousuke says quietly, thinking to himself. He can't picture Makoto behind a keyboard, or a piano at that. He can't even picture him behind a guitar, or a bass... Or the drums? "Does he sing?" 

That seems to strike a chord in Rin's head. His eyes suddenly shrink. Rin sits in silence, glaring holes into Sousuke's coffee table. It's a little frightening to look at, actually. 

"Uh, Is he good or bad at singing?" 

"Good... _good_." 

"Right..." Sousuke says, still looking over at Rin with a hint of concern.  

He has to hear Makoto sing. If that reaction has come from it, then it's something he has to hear. 

Sousuke wonders if Makoto will end up being the singer of the music club. 

Thankfully, just like Rin had silently requested before, Chouko pads back in to the room. She holds a large fluffy toy that is almost as big as herself, in her mouth. It brings Rin out of his weird little trance, as he slowly begins to laugh at just that. Chouko drops the toy, which is supposed to be a frog but looks nothing like one, at Sousuke's feet, taking it back into her mouth so that she can make it squeak a few times. She steps back from the toy, and does some sort of little excitement dance as she waits for Sousuke to notice what she has brought to him.  

Sousuke puts his cola down on the coffee table before picking up the toy, shaking it in front of Chouko's face before launching it across the room. Chouko yaps loudly, and obviously Rin had forgotten just how loud her sudden barks were as he jumps in shock. She bullets across the room, squeaking the toy to let everyone know that she has gotten a hold of it, before returning to Sousuke's feet, toy in mouth. He grabs the end that isn't in her mouth, and pulls gently as not to hurt her teeth as he tries to take the toy from her. She growls, leaning forwards and wagging her behind in the air. She stares him cold in the eye. 

"Give it here, Chouko!" Sousuke says, wagging the toy in her mouth, which she refuses to let go of. Her head moves with the toy. " _C'mon!_ " He yells. After a moment more of quiet cursing and growling, he retrieves the toy from the dog. He grins proudly. 

"Here, Rin." He says, taking the frog plush and tossing it across to Rin, who catches it successfully. 

"Chouko!" Rin calls out again, waving the toy in his hand. Chouko runs over towards him, doing her excitable dance again.  

Suddenly, Chouko somehow manages to grab the toy from out of Rin's hand before he's even thrown it, pulling it out of his grip with ease. She takes the toy back over to Sousuke, squeaks it, and drops it at his feet. Rin looks over in disbelief. 

Sousuke laughs to himself, taking the toy from his pet and tossing it across the room. 

\--- 

"Sousuke was asking about you." Rin says to Makoto on their daily run. It's a little after six, and the two are jogging to the stairs in their running gear to meet Haruka. He arrived home from Sousuke's apartment on good terms with his friend after playing video games for a little while and bonding with his dog.  

"He was?" Makoto asks. He's genuinely surprised. He wasn't even expecting Sousuke to remember his name at that. 

"Yeah, asked about what musical instrument you played. Told him you played the keyboard and he had a kinda weird reaction." Rin replies. He suddenly regrets telling Makoto that as soon as the words have passed his lips. 

"Weird? What do you mean?" Makoto says. He pouts a little, slowing down a little. Did Sousuke think he was weird for playing the keyboard? 

"Like, he didn't take you for a keyboard kinda guy. He thought you were uh, like... A singer or something!" Rin says, licking his lips. He says it even though those weren't Sousuke's exact words. 

A singer? Sousuke thought he was a singer? Did that mean Sousuke thought he might have been good at singing... Because he has a good voice? He had only had one or two conversations with him, so he hadn't heard his voice that much... Or was it just sheer suggestion? 

As much as he strangely doesn't want to admit it, suggestion seems like the more reasonable choice. 

Rin notices Makoto hasn't responded to him and begins to panic. He looks up at the taller boy, who's focused  on the path ahead of him. He has his lower lip trapped between his teeth in some sort of pout, meaning he's deep in thought. 

"He doesn't think you're bad at keyboard! He hasn't even heard you play! He just thought you'd be more uh, you know?" Rin says in a rush, looking up at Makoto, swallowing hard. He should have kept his mouth shut. 

Makoto doesn't hear him. 

Haruka joins them at the steps, stretching his legs and arms, and the trio begin their jog along the beach shoreline. It's quiet save for Rin and Haruka's small daily bickering, as Makoto still ponders about Sousuke asking Rin about his musical instrument choice. 

Noticing that Makoto hasn't stepped in to stop them, Haruka looks back over his shoulder at Makoto who is slightly behind them, only by about a metre. Haruka then thinks to himself, too. Makoto must still be thinking about their conversation earlier about him choosing to not join the music club. Rin hasn't asked him about it either, which might suggest that he told Rin about it on their way to the steps. 

No, because then Rin would be talking his ass off about it right now.  

Haruka tries his best to not let any guilt get to him. 

"Makoto." He says calmly. Makoto snaps his head up toward the voice, smiling politely at Haruka, and at Rin too, who turns around to look at him. "You're behind." 

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I'll keep up now!" He says with a smile, dashing forwards a little to run between the two. 

Rin and Haruka look at each other oddly for a moment before continuing, running at a constant pace. 

"Makoto, speaking of which, are you taking your keyboard tomorrow?" Rin asks the taller boy to his right. He knows he only asked this today, but he could have changed his mind. 

"Mmm, I think I'm going to stick with leaving it at home for now. It is kinda heavy on my hands and it would be annoying if I had to carry it around the whole day for no reason..." Makoto says, looking back at Rin with a half-smile. 

"I know what you mean. My guitar's like that, too, but the case is heavily padded so I suppose it's easier on my end. Then again, we're gonna have to start bringing them in daily anyways." Rin replies. 

"That's true." 

Haruka on the other end keeps quiet. They must have been talking about it, then.  

"Ah, I'm looking forward to it!" Rin sighs, flashing his teeth as he smiles widely. Makoto smiles too, turning to look up at the skies they run under, a blend of passionate oranges and calming pinks. 

"Hey, Rin?" Makoto begins. "Did you even think about what this other member does? What if they're a singer?" 

"Huh? If they are, that's better! We don't have to worry about that, then." Rin says, looking back over at Makoto. He still looks a little odd. He really regrets saying what he did, now. "...Is that something you wanted to do?" 

"No way!" Makoto almost shrieks frighteningly. Haruka jumps a little. "I-I couldn't, I don't uh... Think I'd be able to..." He mumbles that last bit, but the two  of them hear him anyways. 

"Why not?" Haruka asks, deciding to join in. 

"I don't think I'd be able to sing in front of people..." Makoto says quietly, already feeling nervous. Rin hasn't asked him to, but just the thought of it is... Scary. "N- not that I have any stage fright or anything!" He says, laughing lightheartedly. Haruka knows he isn't being 100% truthful, it's obvious. Rin however doesn't see it, and nods. 

"Well, I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to, and I hope this other member doesn't either." Rin reassures him, noticing that they've all slowed down a little. "We're gonna make this something comfortable and memorable for all of us, right?" He continues, silently hoping that Haruka is listening in on this, too. 

"Right!" Makoto says with a smile, and he's back to his normal self again. 

"I just hope this new member isn't one of those annoying first years..." Rin mutters, making Makoto chuckle to himself. 

"Surely they won't be _that_ bad, Rin." Makoto says.

Rin just hopes he's right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please do not ever leave rin matsuoka with your pets this has been a psa by karumello
> 
> There we have it! Another chapter finished, on to the next!
> 
> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! It lets me know that I'm doing well and gives me encouragement to keep working hard.
> 
>  
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	8. New Places, New Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the first day of the Music Club for Rin and Makoto, and their newest member too, who isn't anything like they expected.
> 
> yet again that is a fuckinf awful title i really need to up my title game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i can feel all of you looking into the camera like the office i am so fucking sorry for the wait for this chapter. college has been kicking my ass recently, but if it makes you hate me any less, i think this is the longest chapter.
> 
> [karu where the fuck have you been](http://karumello.tumblr.com/post/140235526672/me-i-should-work-on-ebimc-c821212-god-damn)
> 
> so without *loud cough* further adieu, here's chapter eight. this is another fav of mine. enjoy!
> 
> thanks to those who have been patient with me

_Tap_ _tap_ _tap_ _tap_ _..._  

Broadened sunlight glimmers through the window, the total opposite of the previous day's weather. Its soothing warmth flows throughout the classroom, lightening the mood of each student, shining a personal ray of sunshine upon them all. And what a good day to shine, too. 

 _Tap_ _tap_ _tap_ _tap_ _..._  

Impatient wine eyes flicker between looking up at the clock on the wall, and looking back at the teacher. The smaller hand on the clock points at three, whilst the longer hand is between five and six. It hasn't moved for a while. Is it broken? 

 _Tap_ _tap_ _tap_ _tap_ _..._  

That damn tapping... It's making him anxious. He wishes it would stop, or at least stop speeding up every now and then. It's obvious where it's coming from, or who it's coming from, seeing as they made it known that they were the culprit just the other day. Just as the thought passes his mind, the tapping speeds up again. He's going to get caught. 

 _Taptaptaptap_ _!_  

Another pair of eyes, green, are looking at the suede blue shoe that's rhythmically tapping against the pole that holds the desk up. Telepathically, he tries to get him to stop. He glares at the shoe, and then at the person the shoe belongs to. 

However, Haruka's eyes are closed. Of course they are. So much for not listening to music in class. His head, which leans against his hand, begins to bop to the beat that's probably filling his ear more than his teacher's voice is. His free hand suddenly raises slightly from the desk, and his fingers hit the edge of the desk to an upbeat rhythm. And suddenly, there's two pairs of anxious eyes on the clock. 

The bigger hand on the clock has moved a little. 

If they weren't still in a lesson right now, Sousuke would have reached over and snapped his earphone cord by now. He knows that he taps along to his music sometimes, only when he _really_ gets into it, but not in the middle of class. And not with every damn inch of his body. Sousuke grits his teeth as he practically digs his pen into his paper as he writes. He wishes that... What was his name again? Oh, Makoto. He wishes that Makoto would do something to stop him. 

Now he knows how Rin feels.  

The sunlight pisses him off. It's shining in his eye, and reflecting off of his white sheets, almost blinding him. He literally has to squint to see what he's writing. At this moment in time, he ultimately regrets choosing the seat next to the window. He could have asked if they could just close a blind in here, but they have, what? Five-six minutes until the lesson ends? Yeah. Five minutes. Five minutes for him to hold himself together and not turn around and punch Haruka's lights out. 

Not that he has anything personal against the guy. 

Sousuke looks over to Rin to see if he's feeling what he's feeling. However, he's met with Rin longingly looking at the clock. He must be waiting to leave so that he can get to the music club. 

It's funny how just the other day he wasn't feeling this way at all. 

Speaking of which, today is Thursday, the day all of the clubs start back up again. Sousuke hasn't joined a club yet, and he doesn't plan on joining one for a while. He can't do it, he can't stay extra hours, he has a pet to look after. Hopefully he'll be able to explain that to somebody. Besides there aren't any clubs that have taken his fancy. 

Well... No, he's right. None of them are _that_ intriguing.  

The second the bell rings, there's a huge bustle of noise around him, but at least the tapping has slowed to a stop. Thank God.  

"Sousuke, we're heading up. See you later, yeah?" Rin says with a small smile, though it's more likely he's smiling because he's about to start his new club. Makoto stands beside Rin, looking down at his feet. 

"Yeah. See ya." Sousuke replies, turning on his heel to walk the opposite way.  

He pulls out his own MP3 player as he exits the school building and walks down toward the train station. A lot of other students from supposedly Samezuka surround him, bustling with conversation. His earphones are in his ears as soon as they're untangled, loud music suddenly fills his head, drowning out the sounds of his loud classmates, third years and first years. That's better. 

It comes as a surprise to him when most of the students board the train to Iwatobi. He looks down at them. The school is _right in the middle_ of Iwatobi. As they pass him one by one to board said train, he inwardly bets that each one of them probably lives literally a couple minutes walk away. The majority of them look like first years, so it probably is true. At least Rin and his friends aren't like that. 

The train heading to Samezuka pulls out of Iwatobi station and begins its journey. It doesn't take longer than twenty minutes, Sousuke calculates that as at least eight songs. It takes him five-ten minutes to get to his apartment from the station, so that's another two. Ten songs in all, not bad. 

Hopefully that'll be enough to distract him from thinking about anything else right now. 

\--- 

"I don't know why, but I thought the room would have been a little bigger than this..." Is the first comment Rin makes when he and Makoto enter the 'smaller than expected' room, that is of course the Music club. From then on, it's silent for a moment as the boys explore around their new club.   
   
To be honest, yes, it is quite small. But the large windows make it seem a little bigger. There's long curtains to pull down over those, thankfully. On the far end of the room, if you can call it that, is a dark oak table, with six seats surrounding it. Two seats are on each side, and one at the head, and one at the foot. There's a couple of large boxes piled up with instrument brands printed over them, a name that Rin and Makoto are aware of, as they've both seen it when they've visited music stores.    
   
It's a drum set. Neither of them have ever played the drums before. Neither of them think of playing them. But both of them wouldn't hurt to try it out. They don't voice this of course. 

"Ah, Makoto!" Rin calls out, breaking the silence. Makoto turns to Rin's voice, and his eyes widen a little when he sees the boy pointing at another box. This time, it's a brand name that Makoto knows more than any other.  

"A piano?" Makoto says, stepping forward towards the box. "So I didn't _have_ to bring my instrument after all.." He smiles in relief. That thing can be awful heavy to carry around. He does work out, so it's not _that_ heavy, but still, it's an extra ten-twenty pounds on his back. 

"Hey. You're a _keyboard_ player, too." Rin snaps, cocking an eyebrow. "You're not getting away _that_ easily." He smirks. Makoto's smile drops as he groans quietly. 

"Anyway... I don't think they have any guitars in here. There's just a drum kit over there, and that piano. This is the only room in here, right?" Makoto says, walking around a little more. It certainly looked like it.   
   
"I've never been up here before." Rin says, squatting down to get a better look at the boxed instrument. "Have-" 

"Hey, there's another door!" Makoto cuts him off, heading over to the direction of said door. Rin hauls himself back up to full height, and slowly follows after him. Makoto opens the door, revealing a simple, completely empty cupboard. It's silent again. 

"It's just a cupboard..." Rin states. 

"I suppose it would be useful for little things.," Makoto hums, a little disappointed. "Like cleaning equipments, and music equipment, cases and accessories..."   
   
"Hold on, cleaning equipment?" Rin says a little confusedly. He cocks an eyebrow at the taller boy again. "Makoto, this is a music club, not a spring cleaning club." 

Makoto turns to face Rin, his face shows a soft expression, with a small pout. 

"Well... This is our room now, right? We have to look after it ourselves." Makoto reminds him, putting some sort of refreshed look on Rin's face. 

He's right. This is their room now. Nobody else but them will be coming in here, so they will have to look after it. Keeping it clean shouldn't be that big of a problem; He's quite neat himself, Makoto only tends to be a little messy every now and then, and Haru is a clean freak.  

Haru... 

"What's wrong Rin? Um, If it makes you feel any better, I'll do the cleaning if you'd like." Makoto offers after seeing his friend's face sadden a little. 

"Nothing, just- I uh, expected it to be something other than a cupboard." Rin mutters, but Makoto's expression doesn't change. He's far too good at figuring people out. Fortunately, he decides not to say anything more, and turns around to face the cupboard again. 

"It would be cool if it were a portal..." Makoto mumbles to himself as he looks inside the small space. 

That puts a smile back on Rin's face as he turns back around, but it soon disappears again as he notices a tall figure that isn't Makoto's stood in front of him. He lets out a tiny gasp. 

"Hm? What is it no- _UA_ _H_!" Makoto yelps, physically jumping a little closer to Rin when he sees the figure, too. His eyes shrink. 

Goro stands before the boys with his hands on his hips, laughing heartily at Makoto's reaction. Makoto himself places a hand over his heart in relief, taking a moment to get his breath. 

"Sorry I scared you there, boys. I just thought I'd pop in and get you two settled in. I take it you've had a little look around, yes?" He asks, his voice booming over the sound of poor Makoto's heartbeat. 

"Yes, it's quite small, don't you think?" Rin says, voicing both his and his friend's opinion. He then regrets saying it, as it does sound quite rude. 

"Not to worry, Matsuoka! We were unfortunately given the smallest room as it was the last club to be assigned with a room. Apparently the newest sport clubs needed the bigger rooms for large gatherings. We didn't uh, receive many applications for this club, you see..." Goro admits embarrassingly. He looks off to the side as Rin ponders. 

"So... How many applications _did_ you get?" Rin pushes. He's feeling a little confident today, he recognizes. 

"Honestly? Three. We did have four, but they dropped out soon after realizing that it wasn't for them." The older man continues. 

So there would have been four members? He knew there were going to be three, but thinking about it made him ponder about who the fourth could have been. He's been with Haruka and Sousuke long enough this week to know that neither of them picked up an application form. 

"So... The third member, are they here?" Makoto pipes up when he's finished shaking. Goro looks to him with a small smile, in an attempted apology. 

"I believe he's running an errand for somebody, so he may be a little late." He nods, looking at the door after saying so. 

He. So the third member is male, too. 

"Anyway, I have this to give to you. It's a club registration form. All you need to do, is fill it out. Your names, perhaps a band name, you don't have to think of one right now, and the important details. I'm the club's advisor, so you can put my name down for that." He instructed, handing the sheet down to Rin, who nodded, taking it all in. 

"Sure, sir. Does this thing have a deadline, or? I'm just suggesting, as there may be future members..." Rin says, hinting at something. Makoto knows exactly what it is. 

"If there are any new members, their names can be added to the list. As for now, there isn't a deadline. But try to fill it in as soon as you can, okay? I need to be back downstairs, so if there's any problems you contact me there. Got it?" Goro speaks out, turning on his heel towards the door.  

"Got it!" Rin and Makoto reply, watching as their advisor exits the room with a curt nod, not saying anything else. When the door closes behind him, Makoto lets out a sigh. 

"That scared the life out of me..." He whines, moving over towards the center of the room. Rin follows him again, looking down at the sheet. 

"We should probably wait for the other member to get here before we start on this, huh." Rin mentions, holding up the sheet towards Makoto, who hums in reply. 

Before Makoto can open his mouth, the door swings open, frightening him again. 

" _Sorry I'm late_!" Comes a sudden voice. It all happens far too quickly. A small, bundle of blonde energy bursts in through the door. He grins up at them, before pausing to pant loudly, lowering his head. 

Rin and Makoto look at each other in confusion, and then look back at the smaller boy, who according to Rin's brain, is clearly a first year. Great. 

"Um... Hello!" Makoto starts, a little timidly. There are far too many shocks and surprises coming at him today, he doesn't know if his heart can take it all.  

The blonde lifts his head up at Makoto's greeting, revealing large, bright pink eyes. They're very pretty. 

"What's your name?" Rin asks when the younger doesn't reply. He didn't seem the shy type when he came barging in through the door. 

"Oh, right! Introductions! Heh, my name is Hazuki Nagisa, but please just call me Nagisa! I'm a first year, and if you'd please, I'd like to be a member of this club!" He says loud and clear, his hair bouncing with every word. He stands and looks up at them expectantly with a small smile on his face. 

"Well, you already signed an application form to join so, what we say won't matter. Of course you're a member!" Makoto replies, deciding to handle the situation. He gives Nagisa his trademark smile. "It's nice to meet you, Nagisa." He continues, hesitating before using his first name. He's never met anybody who's let him call them by their first name straight away. "My name is Tachibana Makoto." 

"And I'm..." Rin joins in a little awkwardly. He inwardly prays that this kid has no idea of his background, before realizing he's making a bit of a build up. "Matsuoka Rin." 

"Mako-chan and Rin-chan, got it! I won't forget it!" Nagisa chirps immediately, clenching his fists in success and moving a little closer. Rin steps back a little. 

"Mako...chan?" 

"Rin-chan?" 

Both of the older boys are taken aback by his sudden decision use their first names and even give them honourifics right away. It shocks Rin even more than the fact he didn't catch on to his family name, but he's glad nonetheless. 

"Those are your names... Right?" Nagisa says with a little frown. Then again, everybody has that reaction with him, for some reason. 

"Y-yes they are. Um... Welcome to the club, Nagisa-kun!" Makoto says happily with a tilt of his head, smiling again. 

"Just Nagisa is fine, Mako-chan! Hey, we all have girly names!" Nagisa laughs, walking around the two to look around the room himself, his eyes are wide and full of curiosity. 

"Just 'Rin' is fine..." Rin mimics under his breath with a scowl. Makoto doesn't say anything, instead watching as Nagisa gazes around the room. 

"So, let's get down to business, right?" Makoto suggests a little shyly, walking over towards the table. Rin nods, following him. Perhaps if Nagisa told them a bit more about himself, Rin wouldn’t feel as, well... _Threatened_ by him. 

"Yeah, let's uh, get to know a few things about you, Nagisa." Rin adds. 

"Oh! Sure!" Nagisa beams. He moves very animatedly, almost as if he was bursting with some kind of energy... If there was anything Rin likes about this new kid so far, it's his energy. 

Makoto and Rin take both the seats on the side of the table that's underneath the window. Nagisa follows them, choosing the seat opposite Makoto, as he's shown to be more optimistic and friendly towards him. 

"So, Nagisa..." Rin begins, looking at the smaller boy and then at Makoto. Makoto urges him to carry on with a small movement of his head. "Tell us a little bit about yourself."   
   
Nagisa doesn't feel any pressure at all, nodding happily. 

"Well, other than music, I love history, and I have a really big sweet tooth! My favourite foods are anything strawberry flavour! But I love Iwatobi cream bread, too!  you should both try it! I love any insects, and horror films, my favour-" 

"Let's start with music, yeah?" Makoto interrupts, a little blown over by the blonde's babbling. He smiles at him again as to not upset him. However, Nagisa doesn't take any offence, and nods visciously.  

"Sure!" He smiles back at him, stretching his arms out. 

Rin just sits back in pure shock. Just what has walked into this room? 

"What's your favourite genre of music, Nagisa?" Makoto asks, nudging Rin under the table with his foot. Rin sits up a little, listening in. 

"Well, to be honest, I like a little bit of everything! I like those songs that give you energy, and make you feel great, that can be any genre, right?" Nagisa says, giving the elder boys a small closed-eye smile. The two look at each other for a moment before looking at the younger. He has a point. Rin's taste in music is pretty much the same. But his reasoning is pretty different to Nagisa's. 

"Then that broadens our genre, then." Rin says, sitting up straight for a moment before leaning forward on his hand a little. "If we just stuck to one genre then-" 

"Woah!" Nagisa yells all of a sudden. Makoto jumps again, and for a minute he thinks he's going to die. Nagisa leans forward across the table towards Rin, his pink eyes sparkle and his eyebrows lower, as does his mouth. "Are those your _real_ teeth!?" 

"...Yeah, they-" 

"Oh, oh! You totally remind me of that one guy! What was his name..." Nagisa pulls away from being directly in Rin's face to put a finger to his chin in a thinking pose. This Nagisa character is actually kinda humorous, Makoto thinks. "You know, the singer, the one with the big red guitar, and he made that song that goes like-" 

"Toraichi?" Rin suggests, cringing a little when Nagisa gasps. 

"That's it! You really look like him! But you don't have the hair, so there's some cool points taken off of you, Rin-chan!" Nagisa says, pointing fingers at the boy. 

Rin thinks to himself for a moment if he should tell Nagisa the truth. He decides against it, as he would probably freak out, and they'd get nothing done. 

Makoto looks over at Rin a little oddly. That's _twice_ Rin has acted weird when people reference his father. Why doesn't he just tell Nagisa that he's his son? There's nothing that Nagisa can do to harm him, is there? 

"Hold on..." Nagisa mumbles loud enough for both boys to hear. Rin bites the inside of his lip and softly scowls, looking off towards the cupboard.  

Makoto pouts. Something's wrong. 

"Matsuoka... Hey! That's your last name, Rin-chan!" Nagisa continues, genuinely finding interest in the sudden topic shift. "Wait, don't tell me, you're related!" He gasps excitedly, returning back to shoving his face in Rin's. 

"Haha... You caught me!" Rin says a little nervously. Nagisa's jaw drops. "Toraichi was my father." Rin admits, smiling a little awkwardly at Nagisa as he shoots up and wallows from being starstricken. 

"Wow! I've never met a famous person before! You're so cool, Rin-chan!" Nagisa squeals, laughing to himself in disbelief. Rin shakes his head, laughing nervously again. 

"I'm not famous, Nagisa. My father was." Rin reminds him, trying to put across a point. 

Makoto doesn't say a thing, he wants to watch Rin for any more strange behavior on this subject, but at the same time he should probably change the topic before Rin gets upset. 

"I don't get it though... Why are you at Iwatobi High? I thought people like you went to special schools and had private tutoring and all that kinda stuff?" Nagisa says once he's calmed down a little, his small confused look returning to his face. 

" _What do you mean, 'people like you'_?" Rin snaps all of a sudden.  

"Ah! A-anyway!" Makoto yells above the two, catching their attention. "Nagisa, I think it's best we leave that subject alone for now, hm? Let's see... Oh, that's right! Why don't we start on that sheet that Sasabe gave us?" Makoto suggests, taking it from Rin and setting it between the three of them. 

Nagisa and Rin silently agree. Makoto is very, very concerned. 

"Band members... Well, we'll just write our names, right?" Rin says, taking a pen from his bag and writing down his own name, followed by Makoto's, and then Nagisa's after it takes him a minute to remember his last name. 

"Band name?" Nagisa voices next. "Hmmm... Well, it has to be something catchy!" 

"Something not too complicated, too." Makoto joins in, nodding. 

"And something meaningful." Rin adds, both of the other two boys agree with him, nodding simultaneously.  

They then sit in silence as they ponder over the perfect band name.  Hm. It has to be something catchy and memorable. Something like... 

"Iwatobi Rockers?" Nagisa suggests. Makoto winces and Rin shakes his head. 

"Too cringy." Rin says. Nagisa thinks for a moment before humming in agreement. It's best not to use the school's name, he supposes. It takes away the originality. 

"Well, what do we all have in common?" Makoto says, giving Nagisa another idea. 

"I've got it! Name your favourite animal on three! One, two, three! Penguin!" 

"Shark." 

"I can't decide. I like every animal." 

Rin and Nagisa turn to look at Makoto both with serious expressions. Makoto looks back at them a little surprised before pouting and looking off to the side. 

"Cat..." 

"No way, Mako-chan! Dogs are better!" Nagisa whines, looking at him a little disappointedly.  

"Cats are cute, and they're playful too, like dogs!" Makoto softly argues back, his pout deepens. Rin watches the two in small amusement. 

"But dogs are better! You can take them for walks and play with them _more!_ They're cuter than cats." Nagisa says, but none of it goes into Makoto's head. Nothing is cuter than a cat to him, but he doesn't feel like arguing today. 

"Anyway, you two like sea animals. Could we make a band name out of that?" Makoto suggests with a small smile, completely ignoring Nagisa's argument. Nagisa however is more captivated by Makoto's new idea. 

"Hey, yeah! That's clever." Nagisa cheers. He gets thinking about it before Rin can interject. 

"But your favourite animal isn't a sea animal, Makoto. Wouldn't that be excluding you?" Rin says with small sympathy. Makoto smiles at Rin, shaking his head. 

"I don't mind! You might actually come up with something cool that I'll like. Besides, I said I like every animal. That includes sea animals." Makoto muses. Rin sighs through his nose. _This boy..._  

"What's your favourite sea animal, Mako-chan?" 

"Oh, I like orcas the most, I suppose." 

"Hey, do you think 'Sea Animals' is a good name? Or ' _The_ Sea Animals?'" Nagisa continues, leaning forward with every suggestion. Rin cringes again. 

"That doesn't sound very musical..." Rin mutters, but Nagisa hears him. "I mean, it doesn't have to, but don't you think it sounds like some sort of Animal show?" 

Nagisa groans, falling back in his seat. He thinks again for a moment, as do the other two. 

"Um... What if we combined our names?" Makoto says sheepishly, knowing himself that it isn't the best of ideas. It's very unoriginal and generic. Nagisa shakes his head. 

"But what if there are any more members? Wouldn’t the name get longer and longer? Nagisa-Makoto-Rin is already a mouthful!" The blond whines again. 

"Hey, who said your name has to come first?" Rin says, a little irritated. 

"It sounds better that way." Nagisa winks teasingly at Rin, who scoffs quietly before returning to thinking. 

"That's true... The length of the name! Not the name Nagisa suggested. Maybe something will come to us later? Sasabe said we didn't have to come up with something right away." Makoto reminds the two. 

"Yeah, usually the best idea comes to you when you least expect it." Rin states, and the other two nod in agreement. 

"I'm gonna come up with something super cool! Just watch me!" Nagisa says, suddenly getting into some sort of serious mode, clenching his fists again. 

"Well in that case, I can't wait to hear it." Makoto smiles gently. 

Rin moves his pen down to the next thing on the list, which is the club president. Rin swallows thickly. He remembers Goro saying to him that he could be the president of the Music club without second thought, before remembering how selfish it would be of him to do so. 

"Club President..." Rin begins a little quietly. "Makoto, you're a responsible person, why don't you take it up?" He suggests, immediately pushing it onto Makoto. 

"Me?" Makoto says a little shocked. Nagisa nods, too. He looks between the two encouraging faces before thinking for a moment. "I think _you're_ more suited for that position, Rin. You're the musical genius, after all, right?" 

"Yeah! Rin-chan should totally do it!" Nagisa pleads, his hair bouncing again. "Rin-chan, you should know more about bands and music than any of us, right?" 

Makoto nods with a smile in agreement. 

Rin visibly sweats. This is everything he didn't want, despite them being right about everything they've said. If anybody else finds out about him taking up the position, he's going to have to argue that it wasn't his decision. 

"I... I uh..." Rin stutters looking between the two helplessly. He swallows thickly before mirroring Makoto's expression. "Well, if you really think so, then I'll do it. But if any new members are joining in the next few days, I'll be sure to give them a chance too, right?" 

"Right!" Nagisa and Makoto say in chorus. Rin nods one last time before picking up a pencil to put his name down next to ' _Club President.'_  

"Pencil?" Nagisa frowns as he watches his upperclassman write down his name. 

"Yeah. I just said if anybody else is joining, I'll give them a chance, too." Rin retorts, looking up from the sheet at the smaller boy.  

"Hm. But I still think no one else would be better than you, Rin-chan." Nagisa pushes, although he says it with a bright grin. Rin looks him in the eyes a little taken back. _This kid is going to take a while to get used to._  

"Uh... Thanks?" Rin replies, offering him a nervous smile. Nagisa grins and tilts his head in return. 

"So, what's next?" 

For the next ten minutes, they smoothly fill out the remains of what's doable right now on the sheet. Nagisa puts himself forward as the Club Treasurer, despite Rin having second thoughts. He doesn't exactly thing Nagisa looks like the type he'd trust money with. But he still writes it down in pen. Since he rejected being the club president, Makoto opts for Vice President. He too uses Rin's suggestion of giving the future members a chance to, but he doesn't say it for the same reasons Rin does. 

"Say, Nagisa. We didn't even ask you!" Makoto lifts his head up in surprise, attracting the other member's attentions. Nagisa's ears perk up. "We didn't ask you, do you play any instruments?" 

"Oh, Yeah!" Nagisa beams again, nodding furiously. Rin sits forward, listening intently. 

How this kid doesn't have some kind of neck cramp is beyond him. 

"I play the drums!" Nagisa says cheerfully, moving his arms as if he were holding drumsticks and hitting them against the instrument.  

Rin smiles. For some reason, he kinda knew this kid would be a drummer. With all of that energy, he doubts he would be able to stand still and play a keyboard, or have all of the patience and swift movement to play the guitar or bass. 

"The drums? That's so cool, Nagisa!" Makoto says, sounding almost a little bit the boy himself. Rin chuckles at him, still smiling. "How long have you been playing?" 

"Six years!" He replies even more enthusiastically, holding out six fingers towards Makoto. 

"That's great Nagisa. Drummers are kinda rare to find these days. Do you have any videos or recordings you can show us?" Rin joins in, speaking a little calmly.  

Nagisa looks startled for a moment, before looking away and slowly shaking his head. Rin's smile drops, as does Makoto's. This may just be hopeless. 

"Heheh... I don't." Nagisa's reply comes a little quiet as he looks back up to his upperclassmen. They pause in thought for a moment.   
   
"Um. Do you have any awards or achievements from playing?" Rin asks a little cautiously.  

Nagisa shakes his head again. Rin cocks an eyebrow. Okay. Maybe he was taught by family, or self-taught perhaps. 

"They said I was far too wild!" Nagisa whines, remembering the memories. Rin's other eyebrow raises just as high. 

Makoto suddenly gets an idea. He hums before checking his watch. They actually haven't been here that long. There's still another fourty-five minutes before all club activities end. Nagisa and Rin look over at him. 

"We still have plenty of time here, so why don't you set up that drum set over there and play us something?" Makoto suggests, smiling comfortingly as to not sound forceful.  

Nagisa's eyes wander off to the other side of the room again as a small, wobbly smile comes to his lips. He reaches up to scratch the back of his neck with a hand, laughing nervously. 

Rin's mouth opens a little as his irises slowly but surely begin to shrink. 

"I... don't know how to set one up...." 

Rin and Makoto slowly turn to look at each other, feeling themselves growing cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naaagissaaa!~ i think everyone was expecting it to be nagisa at some point, right? I can't wait to write more about him, and the music club in general. kARU IS GOING PLACES Y'ALL
> 
> I promise promise pROMISE i wont make you all wait long for the next one. y'all can burn me at the stake it push comes to shove.
> 
> There we have it! Another chapter finished, on to the next!
> 
> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! It lets me know that I'm doing well and gives me encouragement to keep working hard.
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	9. So It Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's always a first for everything if you just ask. Even when you weren't expecting them to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i said you could all burn me at the stake if my updates were poor so i hope you all have your weapons at the ready
> 
> [karu where the fuck have you been](http://karumello.tumblr.com/post/142344722007/more-im-awful-every-update-i-promise-there)
> 
> i hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as i do.
> 
> thanks to those who have been patient with me. i love you!!
> 
> also, this fic has recently reached 200 kudos. this is amazing! i honestly thought this story wouldn't do that well, but looky here!! wahoo!! thank you all to everyone who takes the time to read!!
> 
> also if anybody knows of any college courses for chapter naming please sign me the fuck up jesus christ

In order to save time and save Nagisa's life, Makoto decides to help the boy set up the drum set. Of course, he gains the permission to open the boxes from Goro after running down to the teaching office to ask politely. Makoto enjoys manual labour, so this should turn out okay. 

"So this drum goes here, right?" Makoto asks, positioning one of the tom drums. Nagisa pauses from opening boxes to turn to Makoto, who looks back at him scoldingly. "And take those scissors out of your mouth." 

"Mm!" Nagisa hums in return, taking the scissors (thankfully he only had the rubber end in his mouth) out of his mouth and nods. "Yeah! That looks right!"  

"Nagisa, you have a drum set at home, right?" Rin asks with a small wince as he remembers the answers to his previous questions. 

"Yeah, it's roughly the same size as this one, maybe a little bigger, and it's a different colour, too." Nagisa replies, looking a little disappointedly at the black bass drum that Makoto is attaching the two tom drums too. His drum set that he has at home is a glittery yellow-green colour. 

"Great! So you can practice at home, too." Rin sighs in relief. Hopefully, Nagisa isn't making that up.  

"It sucks that Nagisa is the only one who doesn't have to bring his instrument to school every morning." Makoto whines.  

Rin tuts. At least he knows that he'll have to bring his instrument in tomorrow. 

The rest of the conversation that he started that involves both Rin and Nagisa, but he doesn’t listen to them. He is far too distracted by standing back to look at his work so far. Looking between the tiny manual in his hand and the actual thing in front of him, he's successfully set up the bass drum with the pedal and the stands, and attached the two tom drums correctly, smaller drum on the left, and bigger on the right. His mood instantly changes. It's beginning to actually look like a drum set! Well, of course it is. This is fun, he thinks. 

"Woohoo!" Nagisa cheers, suddenly pulling Makoto out of his daze. The blond raises both his arms in the air in celebration, almost dropping the scissors again. 

"Nagisa, be careful!" Makoto scolds him again. Nagisa turns his head away from Makoto with a small frown, holding the scissors properly as he moves to cut open the next box. Rin chuckles to himself, if Nagisa is really this lively and dangerous, then he's set to be Makoto's worst nightmare. 

"I'll still have to bring my drum sticks though... But they can just be shoved in my bag, right?" Nagisa says after a small silence. He tilts his head, gesturing to his bright orange bag that sits up against the wall. Makoto and Rin didn't even notice he'd brought it with him at first.  

"I wouldn’t shove them in there, Nagisa. They could break." Makoto calls out a little panicked. 

"Mako-chan, you're starting to sound like my mother." Nagisa argues, making Rin guffaw out loud. Makoto hides his face behind his hands. 

"Not you, too!" Makoto whines behind his hands, turning away to hide his embarrassment. "Rin, what did you tell him?" 

"I didn't tell him anything! You're just a very motherly guy!" Rin says between giggles. Nagisa sits between the two on the floor, looking at Rin's crinkling face, before turning to look up at Makoto's purely pink cheeks. Is this a thing? 

"Didn't tell me what, Rin-chan?" Nagisa confusedly voices his thoughts, placing the scissors down carefully this time as he feels he may need to pause to fully hear this story. 

"Well," Rin begins, looking towards Makoto who looks away before peeking through his fingers to subtly give Rin the OK to go ahead. "Makoto has that kinda tendency. We always joke about how he's like our mother." 

"We?" Nagisa voices. Rin nods casually before remembering that Nagisa doesn’t know who Haruka is with a slight shake of his head. 

"Our other friend." Rin adds, though Haruka doesn’t even joke about it that much. 

"Oh, are they part of this club, too?" Nagisa asks, unknowingly setting off a small reminder in both Makoto and Rin. Rin waits for Makoto to say something, but Makoto knowingly does the same. Rin clears his throat. 

"No." Rin says simply, hoping that that is all Nagisa asks to know. He really doesn't want to talk about the situation to somebody who would be so misunderstanding of it. Besides, he doesn't even think Haruka and Nagisa would get along. Haruka doesn't particularly like loud people. Despite himself. Huh. 

"Hm. That sucks. It would be fun to have more members. Lots of 'em!" Nagisa says, quickly moving the topic on. He returns to cutting open boxes and removing the polystyrene sheets. Rin hates those things. They go right through him, that _repulsing_ noise when they brush upon another piece. 

"Not too many." Rin adds, turning around and shaking his head slightly at Nagisa. "I mean, it sounds cool having so many members, but imagine trying to fit twenty drums on a stage!" 

That shuts Nagisa right up. He hums for a moment as he ironically rubs two pieces of polystyrene together, making Rin wince and turn around. Makoto chuckles to himself. He knows Rin hates that. 

Rin himself then turns to open the box in front of him, which is the piano. He attempts to peel back a little bit of the tape before realising his nails are far too blunt. Nagisa notices this, the  _ 'thunk, thunk, thunk' _ of Rin's fingers against cardboard is far too obvious.

"Rin-chan, if you need to borrow the scissors, just ask!" Nagisa giggles. He holds the scissors out to Rin, holding them correctly, who takes them from him with a small, embarrassed 'thanks'. Makoto watches their exchange, chuckling lightly to himself.

Rin digs the sharp blades into the tape and cuts it off, before doing the same to the opposite side.

He opens the flaps before closing them suddenly. He was quite intelligent when it came to music and instruments, but he had no clue that they would have to put the piano together too. That would probably take up all of the time that they had left. He groans out loud at the thought, not realising that he's attracted the attention of the others.

"Rin? Something bothering you?" Makoto speaks, once again turning from the drum kit in front of him that is almost finished, noticing the stacked up pieces inside the box and getting a sudden jolt of joy in his body. "Oh, does the piano need setting up, too? I can do that, no problem! Just let me-"

"No, I can do it, it's fine, you two can work on the drum kit, right? Can't have you doing everything at once." Rin assures him, waving him off with his hand. "It can't be that hard, right?"

"Okay. If you need me, just say so." Makoto smiles back at him, and Rin suddenly regrets denying his help. Makoto should know more about putting a piano together more than he and Nagisa combined. He returns the smile a little awkwardly before moving to lift open the flaps of the box again.

\---

Haruka decides to wait for Makoto and Rin after culinary club, which was the biggest waste of his time. 

His first club meeting back was just more or less discussing what they had been doing over the holiday, and what things they had saw over said holidays that they would like to introduce to the club. All of that is pretty useless to him, since he hasn't seen or tried any new dishes for a long while. And he knows that he'll be looked down upon if he brings mackerel up again.  _ They don't know what they're missing out on _ , he thinks.

He leaves the room alone, without a clue of where the music club is. He figures it should be near the top floor, avoiding all of the floors that need quiet atmospheres.  

To be honest, he never really expected his school to open up a music club this year. It's kinda weird, with Rin being back and all. It's a little suspicious in that aspect. Did Rin's father attend this school? He feels rude thinking about asking Rin, but he wants to know.

The only other music club he's ever known of was the one in his middle school. Which he completely avoided, until the point where it had to be discontinued, due to a lack of members. He didn't feel right back then. Something about the movements when he played on his own seemed a little off, like he wasn't as powerful, and his fingers were stiffening up, almost as if it were a sign to give up. But he didn't. He just didn't feel like he could play again. Although everybody told him he was 'amazing', and had all of this 'talent', he himself didn't see it. It wasn't worth it on his own, so there was no point of him joining a band, and still feeling the same.

Sure, over the years since middle school, he's taught himself to believe what they say, because he'll still feel that strange feeling if he doesn't.

He isn't mentioning a word of it to Rin, and he doesn't plan on doing so.

Luckily, he finds that the music club is located on the top floor. He knows this because he can hear Rin's loud voice scolding somebody. He doesn't know what he's saying, as it's only mumbles he can hear. A smaller voice replies, one that Haruka doesn't recognize. There must be more than just him and Makoto then, and by the sounds of it, it must be a first year. 

Haruka holds back a scoff, knowing that was exactly what Rin didn't want.

"Haru? I thought you were meeting us at the school gates?" Makoto voices both his and Rin's thoughts after the loud creak that is the door being pushed open.

"Club finishes at four thirty. It's four forty-five." Haruka retorts with a frown. He's always been one for punctuality. Rin and Makoto both look at each other before Makoto looks away to scan over his watch.

He's right. It's exactly 16:45. Makoto swallows thickly before dropping his arm.

" _ We're so sorry, Haru _ ! We just got a little bit off track of time and-"

"Calm down. You're being loud." Haruka brushes it off, walking ahead toward the staircase. Rin cocks an eyebrow before following, as does Makoto, and slowly behind him, Nagisa.

Nagisa glances up at the back of Haruka's head a little timidly from behind Makoto. He must be their friend that they were talking about earlier, he thinks. But Nagisa doesn't think that Haruka has noticed him. Either that or he's shy.

As Haruka leads the way out of the building, Nagisa wonders to himself if he should pipe up and introduce himself, but this "Haruka" guy looks a little scary, if he's being honest. Nagisa listens in to their little bicker about getting carried away with club activities, deciding to keep his mouth closed until they exit the building, in which he then clears his throat.

"Rin-chan, Mako-chan, I'm taking the train from here. I'll see you guys, tomorrow, right?" Nagisa says, causing all three of his upperclassmen to look down at him. He smiles at them, hoping to gain Haruka's smile, too.

But he doesn't. He looks down at him nonchalantly.

"Right! See you tomorrow, Nagisa." Makoto smiles back at him with a little tilt of his head.

"Yeah, see ya." Rin nods, the three of them stand and watch as Nagisa turns the other way and disappears out of their sights.

They then proceed to make their way home, Haruka doesn’t say a word about Nagisa, as it’s pretty obvious he’s their third member, as Rin and Makoto babble on about their first day at the club all the way home.

\---

On Friday morning, Makoto turns up at Rin’s house, carrying his keyboard in his hand in its large case. Rin greets him back with a large grin, and his guitar case slung over his shoulder, raring to go. The weight of their instruments doesn’t even bother them, as they’re used to carrying them places.

The look on Haru’s face when they turn up to his house with their instruments is indescribable. He’s both shocked but also a little miffed. He knows that he’ll have to leave his guitar behind at home. He tries not to let it bother him too much, but Rin and Makoto both know that he’s bothered. A lot. This could be the final movement to getting him to join.

Both of them hope so.

Makoto usually likes Fridays. Fridays are supposed to be the best days of the week whilst you're in school. It signals the start of the weekend; freedom from work and education. Fridays are the days you start to relax, knowing that there aren't any rules to follow over the next couple of days.

However, in Makoto's current state, relaxation is the last thing he's thinking about. His English class has decided to do some group work, and by group work they mean paired work.

He would have been fine if it were the person sat next to them horizontally, working with Haru isn't that bad, he'll do it, but it'll take a minute for him to understand. But that won't be the case, he won't have to worry about Haruka, as Miho has decided to pair them vertically. Therefore Rin will have to deal with Haruka, and he'll have to deal with...  _ Sousuke. _

Makoto offers Sousuke a warm smile as he turns to pull his chair towards the smaller's desk. This won’t be that hard, he thinks. Sousuke looks like a smart guy, and perhaps he’ll even help him out, too. Sousuke doesn’t wear any expression as he sits down in front of Makoto.

Makoto inwardly gulps. He thinks this is the closest he’s ever been to him. Now all of his features are clear and up in front of him.

The task that Miho has set for them is something a little light as they’ve technically just begun the year. It involves translating sentences between English and Japanese, they’ve been given one sheet of paper to write their answers down together. Makoto isn’t the greatest at English, speaking it is hard, and writing it isn’t any better. The reason why they’ve been paired hasn’t been stated yet, but Makoto’s sure she just wanted them to do it quickly, and see how her new class works together.

Haru is at an advantage, since he has Rin who can speak perfect english. Not everyone who moved from class 1-2 knows that, though.

Sousuke’s handwriting isn’t so neat, Makoto thinks when he sees him writing the date at the top of the paper. He then realises he should probably pick up his pen and write something, too. Sousuke moves to write their names in the corner of the paper, writing his own initials before awkwardly pausing when he comes to writing Makoto’s, he pens down an M before looking up at the boy front of him through his eyelashes.

“Tachibana.” Makoto smiles as he takes the lid off of his pen, and then looks down at the list of sentences they have to translate. Sousuke doesn’t say anything back, hastily scrawling the letter T down. It’s pretty quiet between them as they both turn to look at the sentences. But there’s a pleasant buzz of conversation from the other students working around them.

" _ Write something down then. _ " Makoto manages to hear Rin says besides them. He looks back at Haruka who sits still, wearing his usual expression.

"You have the pen."

Rin tuts, placing his pen in front of Haruka, and getting another one out for himself. The raven looks down at the pen for a moment before picking it up.

"You're better at English than me."

"This is good practice for you."

"You have nicer handwriting."

"Thanks. Shut up and write."

Haru stares at the back of Rin's head with a small scowl for a moment longer. He huffs in annoyance through his nose, picking up the pen Rin had gave him, and begins to write out the first sentence. Rin smirks as he sees Haru's hand in the corner of his eye. It's then when he gets an idea to make them work faster, and throw a little bit of fun in there.

"Hey. I bet you can't write all ten faster than me." Rin says, lifting his head up with his smirk still spread across his lips.

"What's the prize?" Haruka replies, lifting his head up.

"Hmm. I'll get you that speaker before your birthday if you can do it." Rin hums. His smirk disappears when Haruka looks back down at the paper and picks up the pen.

"I'll wait until my birthday." He says mutely. "You're better at English than me, so there's no way I'm winning this."

"I'll give you a five minute head start." Rin offers. Haruka scowls at him again.

"I don't need your handicap."

"Alright then, I'll get you a mackerel if you get half of them right. You have to do them all though." Rin offers again. Haruka's ears perk up, and he lifts his face again.

"And the speaker." Haruka adds. Rin scoffs and lifts an eyebrow before realising that they're wasting time.

"Alright fine,  _ and _ the speaker too." Rin says. He puts his pen to the paper again, and waits for Haruka to do the same. "Ready? ... _ Go _ !”

The two of them immediately begin scrawling at their paper, Rin pokes his tongue out in concentration. Haruka scribbles out his answer on the paper before checking the question and attempting to figure out the next one, his eyes are sharp and fixed on the words in front of him.

Sousuke and Makoto amusedly watch their rapid moves from the side.

"See, you  _ can _ do it." Rin says, when he sees Haru's pen racing on his paper in the corner of his eye again.

"Thanks. Shut up and write."

Rin pauses for a moment as he's taken aback by Haru's choice of reply. He growls before writing even quicker. Haruka sees this, and speeds up too, despite being at disadvantage.

"C'mon... We'd better start." Sousuke mutters to Makoto. Makoto has to double take Sousuke's words, as he wasn't expecting him to say anything, but also because he's never heard him use that tone of voice before. All low and  _ raspy _ and-

" _ Are you listening _ ?"

" _ Oh! _ , Sorry yeah, I was just uh, trying to work it out..." Makoto stutters his apology with a smile to match. Sousuke doesn't say anything in reply, just puts his head back down.

Makoto stares at his work and tries to focus on it. Anything to get that voice out of his head, silently praying Sousuke doesn't open his mouth again. Rin and Haru's garbled growls and huffs are distracting him, and so is the handsome man in front of him.

He doesn't want to tell himself that he's got it bad.

But... What _ is _ it?

"It's not that hard." Sousuke says again after a minute. In that same voice. Makoto looks back up at him for a moment and tries not to get anxious.

"Sorry, I'm not that good when it comes to English..." Makoto replies, forgetting his smile this time. He's dead meat.

"...The first one is in Japanese." Sousuke states simply, making Makoto feel like an idiot. He cocks one of his thick eyebrows at him.

Makoto holds his breath for a moment. How embarrassing.

" _ You're right _ ! Haha, I thought _ this _ was the first question for some reason..." He suddenly says, pointing at the third one down, trying as hard as he can not to break a sweat. Sousuke looks across before giving a small shrug.

"You can tell me what that one is when I get to it, then." He mutters, moving to carry on with his work.

Makoto gulps inwardly. Now he's gonna have to figure out that one quickly. He doesn't want to let Sousuke down, because he's pretty sure Sousuke is already annoyed at him by now, that's the vibe he's getting.

"Sure." Is all Makoto says, before finally putting his pen to paper and writing down the first question, which actually does look kinda simple. "Sorry..."

"Stop apologising. You're nervous, I get it." Sousuke says with what looks like a frown. He blinks at Makoto before continuing to write.

He's definitely annoyed at him now. Good job, Makoto. He can't even say he's bad at making first impressions because he already annoyed him on the first day when he endlessly stared at him.

God, he must sound so creepy.

But now Sousuke knows that he's nervous around him. Was it really that obvious? True, he did always feel a little strange around him. He shakes his head of all thoughts, now trying to concentrate on his work.

Haruka and Rin still scribble besides them. They've not only worked quickly, but they've also seemed to catch the attention of at least half the classroom. They all stare at them, some wide-eyed, and some with mild interest. However, both Haruka and Rin are unaware of their little audience.

Well, until one of them, one nearer to Rin, decides to open their mouth.

" _ Show off. _ "

Rin's pen freezes against the paper as the whisper reaches his ears. Show off? No, that's not him. He  _ isn't _ a show off. He and Haruka are just having a little friendly competition. Rin tries not to sulk when he resumes writing, tries not to let the words get to him, and tries not to let Haruka catch on.

There's a lot people can say without knowing the truth. He and Haruka are always challenging each other, that's just a thing that they do. Half of this class don't even know that he and Haruka are friends.

Rin tries not to get upset or angered by it. Instead, he tries to forget about it as he attempts to get back into the zone, despite the fact that he is a couple of questions ahead of Haruka. He slows down a bit, knowing that Haruka will notice this and think that he’s probably teasing him.

“Oi. Hurry up.” Haruka says. Rin chuckles to himself before doing as he said.

“So, what is it?” Sousuke asks Makoto once he’s gotten to the question. Oh, crap. He didn’t look it, and now Sousuke wants answers. His eyes fall to the paper, looking down at the third question. Luckily, it’s only a couple words long.

And when it hits Makoto what the sentence is in Japanese, he wishes that he would have stayed at home today.

_ “I’m single.” _

Why would Miho want them to translate this? These are supposed to be common phrases, and yes it is common that a lot of people are single, but why would they need to know it in English? Most importantly, back to the first thing on his mind, why has he been paired with Sousuke of all people?

Makoto suddenly wants to go through the rest of the sentences quickly and see if they’re going to draw anymore embarrassment to himself.

“ _ Makoto _ ?” Sousuke repeats again, in that low voice. Makoto can literally feel his insides bubbling up. He wishes the bell would just ring and this would be over. He can’t say something like  _ that _ to him. What if it’s wrong? What if it’s wrong and Sousuke just believes that Makoto is trying to hit on him? This could go right, or it could go horribly wrong.

“I think it means…” He pauses, trying his hardest to not make a show. “Um, I-I’m single.”

_ Damnit, why did he stutter? _

Sousuke looks over it himself for a minute before nodding slowly and putting his pen to paper, writing down the answer. Makoto holds his breath as he waits for Sousuke to say something, anything, to move on to the next one.

“...Are you?” Is Sousuke’s reply. He says it in a playful tone. Makoto forgets to breathe again for a moment before looking over at Rin and Haru for any help, but none comes as they’re both still far too busy racing each other. This is horrible.

“ _ Yes _ .” He squeaks, glaring hard into the table. Sousuke huffs through his nose in front of him. Oh God. Not even a week after they met, and Makoto has unintentionally been set up by Miho to admit his relationship status to Sousuke. Then again, it was Sousuke who asked him. 

Makoto prays to himself that it was just a joke. Just a little tease. Just a little interest.

When the lesson does end, thankfully, and Sousuke leaves Makoto’s table with a quiet “See ya,” He hurries off with Rin to the Music club. Desperate to forget what happened just minutes before.

Only to be reminded when Nagisa greets him by telling him his face is bright red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes !! more soumako !! gO KARU GO
> 
> I enjoyed writing this chapter and I already have a plan for the next one, which I think you'll all like so keep an eye out for that !! I'm honestly going to work hard on my update schedule, and I won't let anything get in my way this time.
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag!
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	10. A New Sound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of things can happen in the space of one night.
> 
> //Yep, that's right. The ratings have changed.//

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise. ;)
> 
> When I said I was gonna start working on my updates, I meant it.
> 
> I'm actually so proud of myself!
> 
> This chapter is another favourite of mine, and includes a lil' ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) from me to you

_ No way.  _ Is the first thing to come to his mind.

Makoto wakes up early on Saturday morning drenched in a cold sweat. He sits up slightly, eyes wide and nervously darting around his room, stopping when they get to his door. His family are probably going to wake up soon. He closes his eyes for a brief moment before opening them again, hesitantly lifting up his quilt, wincing as he quickly looks down at himself.

Nothing. There's nothing there. Thank God.

He can't believe what just happened. Makoto didn't even think somebody like him was capable of dreaming about... _Those kind of things._

Now he's hot. He's hot and flustered, a pile of messy hair and melting skin buried beneath a blanket. He's not too sure what to think of himself.

And it's all because of that voice he used yesterday in class, when they were just trying to complete a _simple task_. 

He's so glad it's the weekend, because if he had to go back to school and face him again after that dream, he would have died on the spot. There's no way he could have even looked him in the eye. 

But now he has the weekend to sort himself out, figure out what’s going on in his head. He hates even thinking about it in that sense, because he knows that it’s honestly something that’s so simple to say, but he doesn’t want to say it yet. It’s too soon.

However it’s not too soon for those kind of dreams, apparently. He still can’t even believe his brain would allow him to dream about  _ him _ , holding him down and murmuring all kinds of things,  _ dirty  _ things, into his ear and-

_ Okay. Stop. Otherwise something will happen. _

Makoto sighs out loud again before slowly lifting the covers from his sweating body and hauling himself up out of bed. Time to start another new fresh day, he supposes - After he’s changed his underwear. Taking a shower seems like the best idea right now.

Today is Saturday, and Rin has asked Haruka and himself to stay over. They stay there quite often since Rin returned from Australia, at least twice a month. He already packed his bag the night before, only packing his pyjamas, toiletries and a couple of video games for them to play. Their usual sleepovers include TV, games, music and food. 

Seeing as his family are bound to wake up soon, Makoto takes this opportunity to use the shower first. He knows that his siblings take far too long in the bath of a morning, and his parents are pretty much the same, especially his mother. The only thing is, because they’re asleep, he can’t have his music on as he showers. Which doesn’t bother him, because then they’ll all be awake by the time he’s done.

He picks out his clothes to wear for today, a pair of light brown pants, a black and white striped shirt, accompanied by his navy blue sweater. He’ll decide on shoes later. Makoto isn’t one for looking fashionable, he just likes wearing whatever’s comfortable.

Entering the bathroom, he takes his towel from the rack, and places it a bit nearer to the shower. He removes his shirt and his boxers, putting them carefully into the wash basket, hoping that nobody will be doing any inspections through there. He turns on the shower, and steps back a little bit as he waits for it to heat up. Once he sees the condensation forming on the glass, he steps back under the shower of warm water, tilting his head back and allowing the heat to consume his body.

He smiles to himself as he literally feels the water washing away all of his thoughts, he could even say it were ‘washing away his sins’. Chuckling lightly to himself, he grabs the shampoo from the holder and squeezes some into his hands. The shampoo is apple scented, and he smiles as the smell reaches his nose. Makoto massages the shampoo into his hair, still smiling gently.

When he feels it’s lathered up enough, he tilts his head back into the water and lets it rinse, picking up the shower gel and then lathering up his body, moving his hands in slow, circular motions. 

And when he closes his eyes, he imagines it’s somebody else touching him, moving their hands all over his body. The warmth from both his body and the shower combine and he feels himself getting a little flustered. So much for washing away his sins.

No. He shouldn’t be doing this. Makoto snaps open his eyes and immediately turns the tap on the shower from hot to freezing cold, letting all of the warmth die down. He stands there for a moment, shivering a little as he watches the soap slide down his legs and into the drain.

He steps out of the shower, completely silent, reaching for the larger of the two towels he had set aside. Rubbing his body down, he inwardly curses at himself for thinking that way. 

At least he’s clean, though. 

Makoto then takes the smaller towel and dries his hair, and then wraps the larger towel around his waist. He takes his toothbrush from the holder, puts a little bit of paste onto it and glares at his reflection in the mirror as he brushes his teeth.   
  
Sighing, he removes the towel and throws on his clothes, moving to open a window since he’s still a little hot somehow. He steps back out into the hall after cleaning up the bathroom a little bit, and sees his siblings and parent’s bedroom doors are both open. They must have been woken up by the sound of him showering.

“Onii-chan, are you finally finished? You’ve been in there for- _ eeeeveer _ !” Ren, his younger brother, cries out downstairs, hearing that the shower has stopped.

“No he hasn’t, dummy! He was in there for like, ten minutes!” Ran replies a little brash, causing Makoto to laugh. He heads down the hallway and down the stairs, letting out a small yawn.

“Sorry, guys.” Makoto says gently as he makes his way into the kitchen where his siblings and his father sit, around the kitchen table enjoying their breakfast. His mother is cleaning up in the kitchen.

“Good morning, Makoto.” Both his mother and father chirp in unison. Makoto smiles warmly at them, taking the seat in front of Ren, and helping himself to the small bowl of steamed rice sat  out on the table waiting for him. He notices that his usual piece of ham has gone missing, meaning that Ren or Ran has stolen it. He huffs to himself, bringing it closer to him and picking up his chopsticks.

“Good morning, Mom, Dad.” Makoto replies, digging his chopsticks into the steaming bowl.

“And us!” His younger siblings chime, pouting up at their big brother.

“And you two, too. Good morning!” Makoto chuckles, smiling down at them, they both make noises that suggest that they aren’t too happy with him, but Makoto knows that they’re just playing with him.

“You’re still staying at Rin-kun’s house, tonight, right?” His father asks behind the newspaper he’s currently reading.

“Yeah, and it’s just Rin, dad.” Makoto replies, taking another mouthful of rice.

“No fair! I wanna stay at Rin-chan’s house, too!” Ren whines, causing Makoto to shake his head. He swallows the food before opening his mouth.

“You can stay with us the next time Rin-chan comes to stay here, Ren. Okay?” Makoto offers with a small smile to go with it. Ren sulks before nodding his head slowly.

“I thought you said it was ‘ _just Rin_ ’, Onii-chan.” Ran comments, smirking to herself as she pushes her bowl away from her.

“Don’t be smart, Ran.” Their father replies, lowering the paper and looking his daughter in the eye jokingly, which makes her let out a small giggle. 

“Do you have everything packed, Makoto?” His mother asks from the little window in the kitchen.

“Yes, mom. Everything’s in my bag upstairs.” Makoto nods, finishing the last little scraps of his breakfast. His mother nods back at him, before turning away.

“You’ll be home tomorrow, won’t you?” Ren whines again, looking up at his big brother with a small pout.

“Of course I will, Ren. Don’t get upset, it’s just for one night, isn’t it? I’ll spend the day with you, tomorrow. I promise.” Makoto beams down at him, putting a bright smile on his face.

“And  _ me _ !” Ran exclaims, placing her hands on her hips, looking up at Makoto with a cute little scowl. Makoto chuckles to himself again, nodding slowly.

“And you too, Ran. Both of you. You can both think of something that we can do whilst I’m gone, okay?” Makoto says, putting a smile on everybody’s face.

He spends some time helping his parents clean around the house before taking his bag and saying his goodbyes to his family, finally leaving for Rin’s house. 

At least the twins have given him something practical to do tomorrow. Thank God.

\---

He gets to Rin’s house swiftly five minutes after he’s left his own, greeted by his sister at the door, who’s decided to wear her hair down today, which is a surprise, since she usually has it tied up. It’s long and glossy, just like her mother’s. They exchange mutual greetings before Gou pauses to call her brother down. Their mother is currently at work, as she works longer hours at the weekend.

“Yo, Makoto! You’re uh, kinda early.” Rin comments once he’s gotten to the bottom step. He’s dressed, wearing his grey jeans and black tank top, but he’s missing his shoes, of course. Hearing her brother’s footsteps, Gou leaves them be.

“Hey, Rin. I thought I’d be a little early to help around with anything, if you want.” Makoto replies. He completely makes up that excuse on the spot, despite it being half true. He had no idea that he was early.

“It’s okay,  I just did the spring cleaning before Mom left, she hates coming home from a long day of work to mess, so I thought I’d get it outta the way.”

“That’s ‘ _ we _ ’, Onii-chan.” Gou snaps from the living room. Rin cocks an eyebrow in the direction of said room, shrugging his shoulders.

“Hey, I did the majority of it!” Rin argues back, waiting for a reply.

“You spent most of the time in front of speakers perfecting your cleaning playlist on your phone!” Gou calls back. That takes the snarky look off of Rin’s face, replacing it with a blank one.

“U-uh… Let’s go upstairs, Makoto.”

Makoto laughs softly as he follows the lightly blushing boy upstairs, leaving his shoes at the door, of course.

“Haru won’t be here for about another twenty minutes, I think.” Rin says once they reach his room, he pushes the door open with his foot, hearing that same old creak afterwards.  “I think I said to meet here at around one.”

Makoto nods, pausing to take a little look around Rin’s room, again. He had been here tons of times, but it still astonished him every time because of how unusual it is for him. 

Rin’s room isn’t like what you’d expect due to his family fame. It’s pristine and simple. There isn’t any golden thrones or emerald encrusted bed sheets, and there aren’t any high technology screens or stereos. It’s just a simple, single bed in a room, normal, typical bedroom furniture, and his TV and gaming systems. His walls are plain white, adorned by a few framed records of his father’s, shelves that hold a few trophies and awards, and of course, his favourite guitar. 

He chose to bring that guitar with his yesterday, as it is his favourite. He does have quite a selection of them, but this one, means so much to him.

Rin’s favourite guitar, sits mounted on wall hangers, bold cherry red and shining proudly in the glistening sunlight from his window. He and his father had matching ones, and it was the guitar he learnt his first song on, despite being so big for such a young person to play. 

His father taught him everything about playing, and everything he knows now has been inspired by his father’s music. They would have home lessons when his father returned from the studio, or from touring, and Rin would go away and play his little heart out in order to impress his father when they met again.

If only he could see him now.

“It’s a beauty, huh.” Rin says, seeing that Makoto has been looking at his treasured instrument for a while now. Makoto jumps slightly, earning a small snicker from Rin, and nods.

“It really is.” Makoto replies cheerfully, following Rin into his room and sitting down on his bed. Rin nods proudly.

“Hey, did you see the look on Haru’s face when we turned up at his house yesterday?” Rin says excitedly after a short silence. Makoto suddenly looks back up at him confidently, a bright smile plastered on his lips.

“Yeah! He honestly looked so jealous, I tried so hard not to laugh out loud.” Makoto nodded enthusiastically.

“I’m starting to think we’re getting closer to getting him in.” Rin said, walking over to his TV and switching it on for some background noise.

“Me too. And it hasn’t been all that hard, right?” Makoto replies, Rin nods, walking back to his bed and taking a seat besides Makoto.

“I’m hoping we can convince him fully tonight. That’s the plan, right?” Rin smirks suddenly. Makoto takes a moment to process his thoughts before slowly nodding back at him.

“Yeah.”

Sooner or later, they get back to talking about the topic of school, and how their first week has been. Rin doesn’t mention anything about being called out as Toraichi’s son, of course, and Makoto doesn’t mention anything about Sousuke.

“I owe Haru that speaker,  _ and _ a mackerel now. Turns out his english isn’t that bad, but uh, it’s not that great, still.” Rin states a little awkwardly. “The mackerel is downstairs in the freezer, he’ll probably want it later or something...”

Makoto laughs in agreement. He saw their whole battle yesterday, and he’d be lying if he said it wasn’t interesting.

“Yeah. I think the majority of our class saw witnessed it. You two make a great comedy duo.” Makoto laughed again, watching as Rin rolled his eyes, letting out a small scoff of laughter.

“I guess that’s kinda true. So, how was working with Sousuke yesterday?” He chuckles, leaning back on his forearms on the bed. Makoto blinks slow, trying to quickly think of an answer. “He’s a bit of a tough guy to break through, huh.”   
  
“Sousuke is nice, though.” Makoto says simply. Great. Now he’s back to thinking about Sousuke again. He wishes that Rin will change the topic quickly.

“You two looked so funny,” Rin pauses to let out a small chuckle again. Makoto raises his eyebrow. Oh no, he didn’t see their awkward exchange, right? “The two of you are huge, and trying to fit on your little desk was kinda hilarious.”

“Yeah,” Makoto reached up to itch at the back of his neck nervously. “I’ve never actually known anyone taller than me for a while.” 

“Sousuke said something like that to me the other day, weirdly enough.” Rin tilted his head. So Sousuke had been talking about Makoto to Rin, more than just the thought of him not playing the keyboard?

“He did?” Makoto asks in pure curiosity.

“Yeah, he said he’d never met anyone around his height until he met you.” Rin nodded, looking back at Makoto’s wondering eyes. “To be honest, you two are really different. But you both seem to getting along, right?”

“Sure!” Makoto nods, giving him a closed eye smile, despite that fact maybe not being 100% fact. He seems to like Sousuke, and he’s willing to get along with him, but for some reason, Sousuke still seems to be a little reluctant around him still.

“Good, and well, both of you are my friends, so you can both befriend each other somehow.”

Makoto nods one final time, and luckily for him, that’s the last time Rin mentions his name today.

\---

Haruka arrives at one o’clock on the dot, pressing the doorbell once. Rin goes down to greet him at the door, before bringing him upstairs to sit with them, and greet Makoto, too. 

“Good afternoon, Haru.” Makoto says politely, giving him his warm smile.

“Afternoon.” Haruka replies in a calm tone. “When did you get here?” He says, placing his bag down at Rin’s door, and stands awkwardly in the centre of the room.

“Oh, I got here a little early to help around, but looks like the help wasn’t needed.” Makoto replies, sitting up a little on Rin’s bed.

Haruka turns to scowl at Rin, who raises an eyebrow back at him.

“You could have told me.”

“Yeah yeah, I thought you might have wanted a little time to eat your mackerel.” Rin waves him off, watching as Haru pays no attention to him, walking past to sit down on the small bean bag that’s dumped in the corner. “I’ll go and get us some snacks. You can look for a film to watch or something, if you want. My DVDs are over there.” Rin gestures to the shelf beneath his TV, before taking his leave.

“What do you feel like watching, Haru?” Makoto asks him, sitting up on the edge of the bed. Haruka lifts himself up from the bean bag, and walks over to the shelf, kneeling down to get a look at them. “Rin mostly has music-related films, or documentaries…”

Makoto is definitely correct. There are a ton of music documentaries and concerts from all kinds of bands, some of which they’ve seen before from other times they’ve stayed at Rin’s house, and some of them are completely alien to them. There’s a few action films in there, too. But there isn’t anything there that Haruka is looking for.

“Makoto.” Haruka says all of a sudden. “Something’s missing.”

“Huh? What’s missing?” Makoto asks, craning his neck to look at the DVD’s himself, which isn’t a good idea, since his glasses are in his bag and not on his face.

“He’s hiding them.” Haruka says, turning back to Makoto and looking at him with a fierce look in his eye. Makoto is still confused as to what Haruka is on about.

“Haru… You’re not making sense.”

“His romance films.” Haruka states simply. Makoto cocks an eyebrow.  _ Romance films? _

“Romance?” Makoto questions.

“I know he watches them, it’s obvious. He watches those, and those gross chick-flick films, too.” Haruka nods confidently, listening out for any signs of Rin’s return. “I’ve known this for a while, but I’ve never had any success in finding them.”

When he thinks about it, it would make sense for Rin to watch those kind of things. He’s a pretty emotional guy, and he tends to take a liking towards loving things. Makoto finds it hard not to laugh, it’s quite a comical situation for Haruka.

“...I get it now.” Makoto nods, quickly making a grab for his bag so that he can retrieve his glasses, and help Haruka in his hunt for the hidden DVDs.

Haruka takes one of the band DVDs from the pile, and opens it to inspect it. He might have hidden them within the cases. Makoto joins him on the floor, looking through the stack intensely.

“If I find anything, I’ll tell you.” Makoto says, not taking his eyes off of the pile, Haruka agrees quietly.

The two of them are so caught up in their new mission in finding Rin’s hidden possessions that they don’t hear the sound of him coming back up the stairs, until they hear that familiar creak of his door being pushed open again. Both of them jump, and freeze in their places

Rin re-enters the room, a tray full of snacks in his hand, and a bag full of bottled water and fizzy drinks on his arm. He looks up to the bed, seeing that both of them aren’t there, before turning and finding them deep in concentration by his TV.

“Uh… Did you find anything?” Rin asks a little awkwardly, placing the tray down on his table, and the bag nearby.

Both of them jump at the sound of Rin’s voice.

“Nope! We’ll keep on look-”

“Where  _ are _ they?” Haruka snaps first. He turns and looks up at Rin, expecting him to know exactly what he’s talking about.

“Where’s _ what _ ?” Rin looks back at him, a little confused.

“You know what I’m talking about. The rest of your DVDs.” Haruka pushes, not moving from his place on the floor.

“...Those are all of the ones I have, there.” Rin scowls down at him, picking up one of the chips from the tray of snacks and popping it into his mouth. He looks to Makoto for answers, but Makoto’s expression is just the same as Haru’s.

“Lies.” Haruka says simply again. “Where are the romance films, Rin?”

Makoto almost breaks character when he sees the small shrink in Rin’s eye.

“Romance? Why would I have  _ those _ ?” Rin replies quickly.

“We know you’re hiding them somewhere, Rin.” Makoto decides to join in. Rin looks very taken aback, stepping back a little.

“I-I  _ honestly _ , don’t have any of-”

“I bet you hide them in Kou’s room.” Haruka says, nodding curtly, but before Rin can even open his mouth;

“ _ Yup _ !” Calls a small feminine voice from downstairs.

Rin’s face turns almost as red as his hair.

\---

Fortunately for Haruka and Makoto, they don’t end up watching any of Rin’s ‘gross’ romance or chick-flick films. As Haruka goes to open the DVD player to insert one of Rin’s action films, he finds that there’s already a DVD in there. But it has no name, or cover, it’s just plain.

“Rin. What’s this one?” Haruka asks, turning to face Rin and holding up the silver disc in his hand, a completely neutral expression on his face.

Rin thinks for a moment, looking at said disc, before remembering exactly what it is.

“Oh, it’s uh, a DVD of my dad’s first concert. I was watching it the other night, trying to get some inspiration for the music club…” Rin admits, a little embarrassed. Makoto looks at him with interest. “I wanted to see if I could get any ideas from it, but nothing came… I think it’s better if we be original, be free, and create our own sound, right?” He says, looking up at Makoto.

Makoto smiles brightly at him, nodding.

Haruka looks back down at the disc for a moment before turning back to face the player.

“I want to watch it.” He says, closing the action film case, and putting the disc that was originally in there back in.

Rin is amazed for a moment, watching as Haru returns from the Tv and settles back down on the bean bag besides the bed. Makoto looks up at Rin, who does the same.

“If you don’t mind, Rin… I’d like to watch it, too.” Makoto says a little timidly.

Rin pauses for a moment before smiling confidently.

“Sure.” He says, reaching for the remote. Since it’s a recording, there isn’t any start up menu. Rin thinks it’ll be more exciting if they watch it in the dark, so that they kinda get the full experience of a concert, but it’s still light outside, and he’s managed to get Haruka to watch another one of his concert DVDs, this time without harassment.

Success.

Rin knows this entire concert off by heart. It begins, everything is dark until there’s suddenly a thick mist of steam, and the crowd cheers. There’s flashes of light on the screen panels, but not a sound from the band, not just yet. It’s a tiny room that they’re playing, but it’s their first concert, so it’s nothing too big. The camera isn’t exactly perfect either.

The sound of the lead guitar playing one of their complicated riffs sounds throughout the loudspeakers, and the crowd get even louder. That’s when his father appears, walking onto the stage like some sort of God, playing his guitar (the same as the one on Rin’s wall), playing a beautiful melody, his fingers dancing and full of energy. It’s honestly so captivating just watching him, that you hardly notice the rest of the members of the band walking on behind him settling in and playing their own instruments.

Halfway through the opening song, Rin finds himself quietly singing along. He would love to have this experience for himself, and he would love for Makoto, Haruka, and even  _ Nagisa _ , to have it, too. Rin looks over at Makoto, who seems to be happily watching the concert. His mouth is open, only slightly, but he seems to be enjoying it.

Rin’s eyes widen when he looks past Makoto to the younger boy sat clutching his knees on the bean bag on the floor besides them.

But what catches Rin’s attention the most, is the sparkle in Haru’s eye that he can spot from a mile away. That’s how bright it is. Rin’s mouth is a little agape as he takes in the pure expression of wonder and admiration on Haruka’s face. Makoto notices Rin looking over, and does the same. His eyes widen and his mouth opens a little wider. 

There’s a moment of pure silence from the three boys. Rin and Makoto keep watch on Haruka, as the screams of the crowd from the TV fill the rest of the silence.

Haruka himself feels nothing but overwhelming need. Something about the freedom that Rin’s father has to have full control over the guitar, and make music that sounds so good and uplifting, something giving him some kind of passion, is unbelieveable. And for just one song, in one simple club, by a simple band, he makes it look like it’s the start of something amazing.

Rin and Makoto slowly turn to look at each other with matching smiles. 

Finally. They’ve got him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WAAAHOOO !! Finally y'all got y'all fish ass man where he needs to be. Yip yip! And oh Makoto, you nooty boy, you.
> 
> I hope to give you all another speedy update soon, so I'll see you then! 
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag!
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	11. Frustratingly Positive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto's brain doesn't know what to tell him anymore. Neither do I. Damnit.
> 
> worst chapter summary award goes to karumello ffs i try

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ARE Y'ALL PROUD OF MY UPDATES BC HELLO
> 
> // I was planning on uploading this yesterday, but I was busy with coursework and it was getting to about 4am when I had finished. Speaking of which, it's 2:30 am. hoorah.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter! I think I start off every chapter saying that "this one is my favourite" but honestly, I mean it this time.
> 
> Also, thank you all for leaving sweet comments again! <3

Makoto lies on the futon set out on the floor, silently praying to himself, praying that what happened last night doesn’t happen again tonight. He even moves his futon a bit further away from Haruka’s once he’s asleep just in case. Glancing up at Rin incase he heard his movements, Makoto sees that he’s asleep too, facing the wall and snoring lightly.

Before they decided to call it a day, they finished the DVD of Toraichi’s concert, and managed to play a couple video games once their excitement had died down. Which resulted in Haruka and Rin getting far too into it, and both almost screeching at the top of their lungs when it came to multiplayer versus games. Makoto however, kept to the side, and tried not to get distracted. 

It’s probably the reason why they’re sleeping facing away from each other. 

Makoto faces away from both of them, lying on his side, facing Rin’s bedroom door. His eyes are still open, staring out at the little stripe of light underneath Rin’s door. He tries to think of any methods of how to get those dreams to stop, coming to the conclusion that there aren’t any. He’s still a teenager, and he’s sure many other teenagers have that problem, whether they’re thinking about a certain someone or not.

With a small inaudible sigh, Makoto closes his eyes and tries to sleep.

The only thing he wakes up to in the morning, is the scent of grilled mackerel. Wait. _Mackerel?_

Makoto’s eyes slowly open, still facing the door which is now wide open. He takes a moment to let his eyes adjust to the morning sunlight, before slowly turning his head around. The futon behind him and the bed are empty. Rin and Haruka must be downstairs.

Wait. What if they caught him mid-dream and decided to bail to the kitchen? Makoto sits up, feeling a sudden guilt inside of him. They’ll definitely know how and why it happened. He looks back over to Rin’s open door with a panicked expression. But then he remembers, he prayed last night that it wouldn’t happen again, and his prayers were answered. He didn’t have any dreams at all last night, thankfully.

Makoto hauls himself up from the futon on the floor, before deciding to clean around Rin’s room a little bit. Usually, Rin is a clean freak, and he would die if he came back upstairs to his room in this state. It isn’t that bad, but there’s a few bottles and empty packets from their snacks. Rin’s clothes are in his wash basket, but his and Haruka’s are folded up at the bottom of their futons.

He picks up all of the rubbish from around the room, putting it all into the bin, before taking the futons and rolling them up and putting them at the bottom of Rin’s cupboard, where he keeps them. Rin shouldn’t be too mad.

“ _Makoto! You up_?” Rin calls out from downstairs. Makoto stretches before heading down the stairs himself.

“Good morning, how long have you two been awake?” Makoto says when he joins them in the kitchen. Rin is in the middle of fixing his hair in the mirror, as Haruka is cooking his prized mackerel in the pan. Both of them are still clad in their pyjamas.

“To be honest, not that long. You looked really peaceful so we didn’t want to wake you up.” Rin nods, turning around to greet him.

“Good morning.” Haruka says, switching off the grill and plating his breakfast. He takes out two plates, however. “You can have some of this mackerel, if you want…”

Makoto shakes his head, taking the plate from Haruka and putting it back in the cupboard. 

“Thank you, but I’ll just have some toast… You don’t mind, Rin?” Makoto says, reaching for some of the bread on the counter.

“Help yourself, I had some before.” Rin turns around to wave him off. “We’re going out for a jog since we didn’t go last night, you up for it?” Rin replies, looking at Makoto’s reflection in the mirror, fixing his hair again. 

“Thank you, and sure! I have to be home early today, I promised the twins.” Makoto remembers as he scoots past Haruka to pop his toast in the toaster.

“That’s fine. You can take your bags, and once we’ve jogged along the beach, you can leave for your house.” Rin nods, sitting down at the kitchen table with Haruka. Makoto nods back.

Once they’ve finished eating, and Rin has managed to get rid of the mackerel scent in his house, the three of them head upstairs into their running gear. Rin opts for his usual black running tights, as does Haru, but Haru wears a pair of dark blue loose shorts over his. Makoto wears a grey pair, with green stripes either side. Each of them wear their jackets loosely over them, as it looks like a warm day outside.

They walk down the stairs from Rin’s house, before starting to jog when they reach the bottom. It’s actually quite a nice day for a jog, they all seem to agree. The skies are clear blue, as well as the soft waves that sway gently beneath them. 

“Hey, Makoto.” Rin says when they turn the corner towards the coast.  They had just stopped for a quick water break. Makoto turns his head slightly, looking down at him.

“Yeah?” He replies. He can see Haruka looking up at them from behind Rin, meaning that he’s also a little interested in what Rin has to say.

“Have you ever written lyrics before?” He begins, looking on ahead. Haruka doesn’t look away, still listening quietly as they run. Makoto thinks to himself for a moment, slowing down a little, as do the other two.

“I’ve written poetry before in English class, does that count?” Makoto replies a little awkwardly, Rin shakes his head after a minute. 

“Not really.” Haruka joins in besides them. Rin’s eyebrows raise as he turns to look at him instead. “Lyrics and poetry can be similar, but they aren’t the same.” He states, turning to look on up ahead. Rin smiles confidently.

“I was thinking about the music club tomorrow,” Rin says, running a little quicker so that the other two keep up with him. “If we’re making our own music, would we have to write lyrics, too? Or do you want it to be instrumental?”

“Well, we all listen to music with lyrics more than instrumental songs, right?” Makoto says back, knowing that he’s tweaked a little something in Haruka, as he’s the other way around. “Inspiration comes from somewhere, I suppose.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I wonder if Nagisa has ever written any songs…” Rin ponders, before shaking his head. “I doubt it.” He mutters. Makoto lets out a soft chuckle.

“You never know. Nagisa could be the ultimate song-writing genius.” Makoto suggests, tilting his head a little. Rin doesn't see it, but he scoffs out loud. “Have you ever written a song, Rin?”

“Well… I mean, I’ve tried.” Rin admits a little shyly. Makoto looks to Haruka, before looking back at Rin. “It’s really hard. I think to write a song, you have to have to have the right mindset.”

“What about that ‘Shining’ song you wrote in elementary?” Haru pipes up. Rin blushes again and almost trips up over his own feet.

“ _ Shut up! _ ”

\---

Once they reach the stairs again, Makoto leaves them to finish their run, and he himself heads off home. He takes another shower as soon as he’s home to wash away all of the sweat from his run, and changes back into a fresh pair of clothes.

He spends the rest of the day with his younger siblings, playing silly games with them, running around on his hands and knees pretending to be a dog whilst they play the mother and father part. He’s only playing with them, but a dog his size would be a bit worrying. It’s quite ridiculous, and if anybody else ever saw him doing it, he’d be quite embarrassed. Haruka knows about it though. One time, they played a simple game of house, and played the same roles, except Haruka was their son. Makoto hates bringing it up, and tries to avoid it most of the time. 

After dinner, Makoto’s mother suggests that the twins give their older brother some alone time. Once they’ve stopped protesting, they give up and join their father in the living room to watch a film. They ask Makoto if he’d like to watch, too, but he passes. 

Makoto goes back upstairs to his room with a drink and a small snack for himself, as he sets out some of his work on the table he has sitting in the middle of his room. He has a little bit of homework to do, which includes finishing off what he didn’t do on Friday, which isn’t that much. He plugs in his earphones as he works, it tends to help him get his work done a little quicker. Haruka is the opposite, he thinks. Whenever he plugs in his earphones, whatever he was working on is completely forgotten about.

He thinks about tomorrow once he’s finished his work. Unplugging his earphones, he sets his MP3 player aside, and sits still for a moment. Haruka gave them the kinda vibes that suggested he was interested in the music club. When they watched the DVD of Rin’s father’s first concert, every part of him looked like it was glowing. Hopefully their magic had worked. 

After a moment of wishful thinking, he then begins to think about what Rin had mentioned earlier. If they do make their own music, they should write their own lyrics. He’s never written a song before, but like he also said before, he had written a poem before for class. Haruka said that they weren’t the same, but they were similar, right? So writing one mustn't be hard.

He’s suddenly inspired to have a go. Rin said that it was hard, but Rin is Rin, and what he finds hard might differ to what he finds hard. Makoto smiles to himself before pulling out a small olive coloured notebook that he had saved for some revision, but he could simply buy another book for that. This was going to be his lyric book. If he even managed to write some. 

Chewing the end of his pencil, he thinks to himself about a topic to base the lyrics on. Most songs are about personal experiences, but to be honest, he doesn’t think his life is that interesting to write anything about. He could write a song about someone else, but he can’t really think of anybody. 

And no, he is definitely not going down _ that path.  _ Although it might be good to write about  _ him  _ to get his thoughts out of his head, he is not writing a song about Sousuke. No way.

He decides to brainstorm some ideas. Starting with going through the songs on his MP3 player, hoping that some of the song titles will give him some ideas. But none of them spark anything inside of him. He writes down the things that he likes to think about, and things that could be considered as current topics. Things like peace, happiness and growing up. Then he thinks, he would like to hear Rin’s story into a song. Going to new places, and growing up somewhere new. But then again, that would be Rin’s story to tell, and he doesn’t know a thing about Rin’s experience in Australia. He could bring that up tomorrow, he guesses. 

Of course, love songs are very common and apparently easy to write. But they’re hard to write when you’re not in love, or feeling love for somebody. He couldn’t write a song about hate, goodness no. He doesn’t have any inspiration for that at all.

Makoto glares into the wood of his table as he tries to think about topics other than love and hate, and tries to think about other feelings.

A song about being happy? But how would that start? He doesn’t know, but he jots it down anyway. Let’s see… What makes him happy? Well, of course his family and friends, acts of kindness, and… A lot really. He writes them all down, too. But how can he write all of these things in a song without getting too personal?

Makoto sighs. Rin was right, it is hard. He thinks about searching online for some ideas, but then again, that would count as cheating and take away all of the originality...

He thinks again for a moment before realising he could always…  _ Pretend _ he’s in love? There isn’t much to think about, right? His parents are in love, and he loves his family and friends. Love songs don’t have to be about your partner all the time. It would turn out really cheesy, though.

Looks like his last option is...

Another sigh emits throughout the room. Makoto sits up, leaning his head against his hand, holding his pencil in his right hand. Wait. Wouldn’t it help to have his keyboard with him? He looks up across the room at his keyboard on its stand on the other side of his room in the corner. Nodding to himself, he gets up from his cushion on the floor and moves to remove the instrument from its stand, and brings it over to the table, beside his notebook. He plugs it in before going back to his cushion and sitting down behind it.

He wonders if making a song on his keyboard and  _ then _ adding lyrics would be better. Well, that  _ is _ kinda what he brought his keyboard over for, so let’s get started. Makoto switches on his keyboard and waits for the little screen to turn on before playing. His keyboard is a 73-key, meaning he has plenty of octaves to play with. He can’t sing very high, so he tends to use the lower half of the keyboard more. 

But he tells himself he won’t be the singer of the music club. He doesn’t want too. He can just about find the courage to sing to his friends, so there’s no way he could possibly do it in front of his school. Will they even perform in front of the school? If so, his lyrics, or whoever else ends up writing them too, have to be worthy.

Hmm… if it’s a love song, then would it be happy or sad? The recent thoughts in his head are telling him that it’s a mix of both. But not entirely sad. Frustrating fits it more. Makoto outstretches a hand to play a happy chord, it chimes throughout the room, causing him to turn it down a little bit. A classic piano sound doesn’t exactly fit this kind of song. Something a bit more… Electric.

He switches to the organ sound via the screen on his keyboard and tries the chord again. It sounds a lot better, but still not exactly what he’s looking for. He plays the same chord in different sounds, until he gets to one that’s perfect. It’s not too smooth, but it’s a little scratchy, too. He writes it down in his notebook as well as the chord, before moving to one that’s a little lower. He likes the sound of that, too. It differs from the first, catching the image that he’s looking to make. He plays around with some more chords until he has a little something going, a little mix of both good and strange.

So, now that he has that, he can go back to his lyrics for a moment. He needs it to be something positively frustrating. Does that even make sense? Not really, but that’s how he’s feeling. He laughs out loud to himself, writing something down on the paper. He’s finally thought of a base message for the song. Despite it being about something he wanted to forget this weekend.

Well, everything happens for a reason, right?

\---

The following morning, Makoto is quick to pack his keyboard back into its case and carry it out of the door, as well as saying goodbye to his family and leaving the house on his journey towards Rin’s house again. On his way over, he wonders if telling Rin about the lyrics he wrote last night. He managed to get two verses out of it, but no chorus. The lyrics are very relatable for him, but he doesn’t want to give Rin any ideas about what’s going on in his head. 

In that case, he better keep them to himself. But at least he has a little bit of a song to show them. Makoto pouts a little as he reaches the steps. He kinda wants to keep that song for those lyrics… He could always keep that song for himself, and let the club use other lyrics for it?  _ Then that would take away the meaning he wanted to give it originally.  _ So much for writing all of that last night. He argues a little with himself over whether so show Rin his lyrics or not. He knows that Rin is a sucker for Romance, and he would probably have some sort of liking towards them. Only if he doesn’t think deeply about them.

He decides to keep quiet about it. However, when he picks Rin up from his house, he feels a little differently.

“I tried writing something again last night after Haru left.” Rin says, looking up at the sakura tree as he usually does every time they walk past it. Some of the petals catch on his guitar’s case. “I don’t know what to think of it though, it’s kinda… Well, kinda embarrassing, really.” He laughed softly, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. His hair isn’t tied up today.

“Oh, maybe you can show us at the club today?” Makoto replies, trying not to sound a little taken back. Should he tell Rin that he’s done the same?

“I uh… Think I’ll work on it a bit more before I show you guys.” Rin mutters, loud enough for Makoto to hear. 

“Sure! I look forward to hearing it.” He smiles politely at him. But before he can let Rin get away with anything, there’s something he wants to know. “Rin, how did you come up with it?”

Rin blinks up at him for a moment before answering him.

“To be honest, I got the inspiration from a movie that I watched last night.” Rin admits. Makoto smirks before looking down at Rin.

“Was it one of your romance films?” Makoto sings, trying to hide the oblivious smirk in his voice. Rin jolts.

“ _ Shut up _ ! Some of them are good, okay? I don’t just watch them for the romance,  _ s-some of them have good storylines _ !” Rin argues back, putting Makoto in a fit of giggles.

When they’re almost at Haruka’s house, Makoto’s phone buzzes. He feels the little vibration against his chest. He lets out a little noise of surprise, before reaching into his inside pocket and taking out his phone. It’s a text message from Haruka.

[ _ Haru-chan: makoto. i left early. preparing something for culinary club. tell rin.] _

“Oh, we don’t have to go to Haru’s house, he’s already at school.” Makoto says, reading over the text again a few times. Rin cocks an eyebrow before looking up at Makoto’s phone.

“Huh? Why?” Rin asks.

“He left early to prepare something for culinary club.” Makoto reads out the text to Rin, who makes a small humming noise and tilting his head.

“Fair enough…” Rin mumbles. So it looks like Haruka is still attending the culinary club. “I was really hopeful about him joining the music club last night…”

“Me too…” Makoto says sadly.

They continue to walk towards their school in silence, but Makoto gets a small idea to cheer Rin up.

“Hey, Rin. Maybe if we play a little something to him at club today when he comes to meet us, we can persuade him then?” Makoto suggests. That seems to put a glimmer of hope in Rin’s eyes.

“You’re right. That would totally work!” Rin beams with a smile. Makoto sighs contentedly.

Their school day passes by pretty quickly. Well, for Rin that is. Makoto spends the majority of the day looking anywhere but in front of him. He can’t even bare to look Sousuke in the eye after his dream on Friday night. 

Lunch is almost impossible. When Makoto breaks out his little servings of fried squid again, he hands Rin and Haruka their portions no problem, but when he finally looks Sousuke in the eye to give him his piece, he stares just a little bit longer. And when he thanks him for the food in that low voice again, he instantly turns his head. Sousuke thinks about raising an eyebrow.

“Sousuke, haven’t you joined any club?” Rin asks with a hint of concern once he’s finished eating. He leans against the wall, legs outstretched. Sousuke looks away from him, looking over to the side, staring at the walls of the roof.

“I  _ can’t _ . I told you that.” Sousuke grumbles. He blinks slow for a moment, taking a deep breath before looking back at him. Haruka seems to be watching him intensely from behind his mackerel bento. “I have Chouko to look after. I can’t devote any more hours than I do to school.”

Rin nods. He supposes he is right.

“Can’t anybody look after Chouko whilst you’re at school?” Rin asks a little cautiously. Sousuke tries not to roll his eyes at him.

Makoto and Haruka are silent as they listen in. Neither of them have a clue what they’re arguing about. Makoto’s guess is that Chouko is the name of his Aunt’s dog that he was talking about on the train last week. Haruka doesn’t have any idea at all.

“No. I told my Aunt that  _ I’m _ gonna look after her. What’s the point in telling her that I’m looking after her, and then handing her over to somebody else?” Sousuke says back as calm as he can. Rin looks back at Sousuke a little surprised. Despite it sounding a little off-ish, he is right.

“I guess you’re right.” Rin replies. He’s a little silent from then on. “Sorry…”

“Don’t be.”

Luckily, the bell rings over Sousuke’s voice, signalling the end of lunch, and the beginning of their next lesson, which is English. 

Fortunately for Makoto, it doesn’t involved any paired work. Instead, it’s a lesson where Miho tries to explain the importance of grammar in the English language. It’s also a lesson where Makoto tries to make another attempt of getting Haruka to take out his earphones. It doesn’t go well.

“You know _ , _ ” Says a voice in front of Makoto. It isn’t Miho, because she’s silent at her desk marking papers from the previous lesson. Makoto looks up, to be met with Sousuke looking right at him. He’s turned around slightly to face Makoto. So of course, Makoto looks back at him, silently. “You should just take those off of him. It’s disrupting you more than it is him.” Sousuke continues, pausing to look at Haruka.

“I’m trying, Sousuke.” Makoto replies with a sheepish smile. The boy in front of him looks at him a moment longer before shrugging his thick,  _ broad _ shoulders.

_ Stop it, Makoto.  _

“Doesn’t it annoy you?” Sousuke asks, tilting his head a little. “I mean, the tapping and such…”

“Well, I’ve grown up with it to be honest. Haru and I have been friends since we were practically babies.” Makoto smiles at him again. Suddenly, he doesn’t want Sousuke to turn back around. He wants to get to know him a little. But they’re in the middle of a lesson. 

“ _ Quiet in the back row, please _ .” Miho calls out. Makoto’s eyebrows shoot up. Were they being loud?

“...He’s done that all his life?” Sousuke says, almost a whisper.  _ That voice _ . Makoto discards his last thoughts. He wants Sousuke to turn around and carry on with his work. I mean, he more or less wrote a song about him last night. How embarrassing.

“Pretty much…” Makoto responds, whispering himself. 

“ _ Jeez _ , you’re a good friend.” Sousuke replies, finally turning back around.

Makoto sits there a little dazzled for a moment. Sousuke thinks he’s a good friend? Well, of course, not to him. They can’t even call each other friends yet, can they? He means that he’s a good friend to Haruka.

He can’t help but smile to himself as he puts his pen to paper again.

\---

“God, that lesson dragged on  _ forever. _ ” Rin groans when they’ve left the room. But now it’s three o’clock, and they have to music club to look forward to. They have time to make a song to impress Haruka, who’s already turned the other way down the hall to head off to his club.

“You can say that again…” Sousuke nods, walking down to the end of the hall, where they part ways. “Don’t you have to stay for your club, now? More school for you.” Sousuke smirks. But the smirk doesn’t fade. It stays there. Makoto wishes that Rin would hurry up and say something back to change the expression on his face.

“To be honest, it’s the music club, so it doesn’t bother me. Although I would like another hour or so to have a little nap later.” Rin chuckles, causing Sousuke to do the same. Makoto watches them.

“That’s good I guess. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Sousuke nods with closed eyes, turning to head out of the exit.

“See ya, Sousuke!” Rin calls out. Makoto offers him a small smile for a goodbye.

Sousuke pauses for a moment before giving Makoto a small nod, wearing his natural serious expression.

The two stand and watch him leave, before turning to the stairs.

“I hope you thought of something too, because I got a good idea for a song in English class just then.” Rin says confidently, heading up the stairs the same time as Makoto.

“Sure. I got a little idea for a song, too.” Makoto admits, before realising he should have kept his mouth shut. He said he wouldn’t mention anything about his song.  _ Crap. _

“Sweet! Let’s go!” Rin says, reaching the top of the stairs, pushing one of the large doors open. His mood changes when he opens the door however.

Greeting them, is a black guitar case sitting against the wall.

“Huh? Did they get a guitar for me to use,  _ literally after _ I started to bring my own?” Rin sighs, taking his case off of his shoulder and putting it against the wall next to the guitar case that was slightly smaller than his. Rin takes a moment to inspect the newer case. For some reason, it looks a little familiar. Perhaps it’s a brand that he knows of.

“That isn’t for you, Rin.” Another voice booms above them, causing them both to jump. Makoto lets out another little squeak. The two of them turn to look up to who else but Goro. He lets out another roaring laugh. “That’s your new member’s guitar. Joined this morning. I thought I’d bring him up here to show him around.” He says. “Come on in!” 

And out from behind the larger man, steps out no one other than Haruka.

He looks at them, and they look at him, eyes widening slowly.

Goro has to say, he’s a little surprised himself when Rin and Makoto’s smiles brighten the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise bitch, haruka nanasAYY in the house.
> 
> that was awful i am so sorry.
> 
> THERE IS A SPIDER THE SIZE OF FUCKING AUSTRALIA WALKING ACROSS MY CARPET IF I DONT UPDATE SOON Y'ALL KNOW M DEAD H O L Y F U C K
> 
> im literally so scared rn 
> 
> ok its under the couch im safe for now
> 
> piss
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag!
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	12. We Are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haruka's first day at the Music Club is interesting. Especially since he's the reason why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yahoo!! I would have uploaded this last night, but I had a poopy day yesterday, and for all my Europeans out there, you'll understand when I say my entire day consisted of watching Eurovision. //even though my country came like bottom 3 bye
> 
> But anyways, I'm feeling better today and obviously eurovision has ended, so here's the next chapter
> 
> omfg ever blue iwatobi eurovision club that's the fucking sequel bye guys im off

Nagisa arrives a little while after Goro leaves, panting hard at the door. He lifts his head up at the sound of not two, but three voices coming from the inside. _Has somebody else joined?_ He peeks through the stained glass of the club doors, and sees the shadow of a third person sitting at their table. Pausing for a moment to get his breath back, he nods to himself before pushing open the door.

"Sorry I'm late! I was- Oh! Hello!" Nagisa greets them all, looking directly at Haruka. Haruka looks back at him, poker faced.

"Ah, good afternoon Nagisa!" Makoto chirps, giving him his trademark smile. Rin gives him a small "Yo." Before the boy himself moves over to the other side of the room.

"I don't think we've met before." Nagisa says when he takes his seat at the table. Fortunately, these places seem to be their permanent seats. Rin and Makoto sit on the right side of the table underneath the window, Nagisa faces Makoto, and Haruka seems to have chosen the only seat at the head of the table. "My name is Hazuki Nagisa! I'm a first year, and a drummer! I like-"

"Nanase Haruka." The older boy cuts him off shortly with his own curt introduction. Nagisa looks at him for a moment longer before shooting up from his chair.

"I know you!" He says excitedly all of a sudden. Makoto and Rin look up at Nagisa before turning to Haruka and waiting for his reply. Haruka himself looks up at him patiently. "You were in the newspaper once, I remember! In that _teeny_ tiny column about young guitarists across Iwatobi!"

"I guess..." Haruka mutters. He looks down at the table, still expressionless. Even he himself had forgotten about that. It was only a tiny mention, something about him having the potential to really take flight music-wise. He didn’t exactly take Nagisa as the type to read newspapers.

"That's so cool, Haru-chan!" Nagisa cheers, edging a little closer. That puts an expression on Haruka's face alright.

"Drop the -chan." Haruka scowls. Nagisa sits back down in his seat, looking a little defeated. Makoto chuckles in front of him.

“Aww, But you suit it! And so does Mako-chan and Rin-chan!” Nagisa wines. Haruka frowns and turns his head.

“A-anyway, now that we’ve all introduced ourselves, why don’t we go back to our sheet from last week?” Makoto asks sheepishly, looking over at Rin for a little help. Rin nods back at him, reaching down to take the sheet out of his bag.

“We were supposed to hand this in last week, but I kept hold of it because I knew there would be some new additions later on.” Rin said, wincing a little bit in Haruka’s direction.

“Wait, we were meant to hand it in?” Makoto asks suddenly with a little hint of panic. Rin waves him off before he can get any more worked up.

“Don’t worry, Sasabe hasn’t said anything, so I’m sure it’s not that important.” Rin shrugs, putting the sheet out in front of them. He takes a pen from his inside pocket and adds Haruka’s name to the list of members. He can’t help but give a tiny smile as he does so.  Haruka watches him as he writes.

“What’s it for?” Haruka asks after a little silence. He leans forward a little to get a better look at the paper.

“It’s the club’s application form, more or less. It gives us permission to do events at school and apply for things like club funds.” Rin says, going through the rest of the sheet to see if there’s anything else that Haruka can apply to now that he’s here. Ah, there’s the things he wrote in pencil. “Hey, Haru… How do you feel about being the club president?”

Haruka looks across the table at him with a blatant glower. Rin laughs a little nervously before finally admitting defeat and going over his name in pen. Haruka watches him do so, then looks down at the next thing on the sheet.

“You haven’t thought of a band name yet?” Haruka asks, putting a small look of surprise on both Rin and Makoto’s faces. So he knows that it’s a band? The two look at each other before looking back at him.

“We couldn’t think of anything good.” Makoto says, thinking for a moment and then deciding to ask Haruka. “...Can you think of anything, Haru?”

“We had tons of ideas, but none of them were good enough…” Nagisa joins in, nodding. “Haru-chan, what’s your favourite animal?” He asks. Haruka pauses. Why is he asking him this?

“A dolphin.” He replies after a moment. Nagisa shoots up from his seat again, slamming his fists down on the desk, shocking them all a little.

“See! Haru-chan likes sea animals, too!” Nagisa calls, he looks down at them all seriously before sitting back down in his seat, turning to fumble around in his backpack for something. The three of them all look a little taken aback, including Haruka. “We can plan out a band name in my notebook. I’ll write down some things that we all have in common, and just names that we genuinely like. We’ll come up with something easier that way!”

“...He has a point.” Makoto voices, watching as the excitable boy in front of him pulls out a pen from his inside pocket. “I think that’s a good idea, too, Nagisa.” Makoto smiles, and he means what he says. He did the same thing when he was planning out a song, last night. A song that is currently burning a hole in his own inside pocket.

“Yahoo! Then let’s get started!” He cheers, removing the pen’s lid and writing down a few words. His handwriting is kinda messy too, not that far off from Sousuke’s, actually. He writes down the word ‘Sea’ and also the word ‘Animal’.

“So, what comes to mind when you think about the sea?” Rin mumbles, thinking to himself for a moment, as do the rest of them. He isn’t particularly in favour of Nagisa’s idea, but who knows, it might take them somewhere. He isn’t that positive about having a sea animal related name, either.

“Water.” Haruka says simply. Nagisa nods enthusiastically, writing it down and joining it up.

“Water! Sea water? That doesn’t sound very band-y…” Nagisa repeats, putting a finger to his chin in thought. Rin nods silently. He tries to picture the sea in his mind, the colours, the feel, the sounds and the atmosphere on a whole. He pictures himself at the bottom of an Ocean, trying to describe his surroundings.

“Sea water… Clear? Water is clear, right?” Makoto asks, lifting an eyebrow.

“It’s kinda blue if you’re thinking about the Sea…” Rin says, tilting his head. Makoto hums in agreement. He supposes Rin is right. “Clear blue?” Rin suggests, before thinking a little more and then making a disapproving noise. Nobody else seems to say a thing.

“Clear blue sound?” Makoto replies, his voice raising pitch a little. Rin gives a light shrug. He shakes his head and sits back when nobody else says anything.

Haruka on the other hand doesn’t think of the sea. He thinks of blue, and everything he knows that is blue. The sky is blue, and so is his guitar. The sky is always changing, always displaying a wide variety of colour, dusted with clouds, and pierced with the sunshine. Sometimes it rains, and now he’s back to water. Makoto is right, water is clear, but Rin is right, too. When you think about the seas and oceans, they’re blue. The oceans are endless, bottomless, they just go on forever and ever.

Huh.

When Haruka clicks back into the real world, he sees Nagisa, Rin and Makoto discussing their ideas in front of him. He looks down at the notes in Nagisa’s notepad, after a minute of trying to read his handwriting, he sees that the ‘Animal’ has been crossed out, and they’ve decided to just focus on the ‘Sea’ theme.

Rin blabbers on to them about the things that are in the sea; fishes, rocks, and of course life. Makoto nods patiently beside him, whilst Nagisa looks a little lost. In his head, Haruka agrees with him, lowering his head a little. Seeing this, Rin decides to open his mouth.

“Haru, have you thought of anything?” He asks.

Haruka shakes his head.

“Well, surely Goro will tell us when it’s needed, right? We can each go home and plan out more ideas like Nagisa has shown us.” Makoto says, feeling like they’re getting a little too carried away with it. “Let’s think of things that the club needs.”

“You’re right. I think I can think of something. We can come back tomorrow and compare, and see which name is the best.” Rin states, nodding curtly. Makoto hums approvingly. Rin takes Nagisa’s pen that he has left on the table, and pulls Nagisa’s notebook over towards him to write something in it.  “Ah, that’s right!” Rin sits up straight in his chair, catching all of their attentions. He looks at Haruka directly.

“What?” Haruka replies calmly.

“Haru, since you’ve uh, joined the band now,” Rin begins, hesitating before using the word ‘band’, but Haruka doesn’t seem to say anything. “You and I are the guitarists, right?”

“Yes.” He says, looking at him a little suspiciously now. Why is he asking him things that he already knows?

“Well, bands that have two guitarists usually split into rhythm and lead guitar.” Rin starts, getting a little quieter. Haruka listens in a little more carefully. He heard Rin and Sousuke discussing this last week. “Which do you want to play?”

Haruka thinks about it, as it seems that Rin has given him the time now to. He doesn’t actually know the difference between the two, but lead sounds like the one who gives all of the controls. He isn’t one for controlling, or being the ‘lead’ in anything. Plus, rhythm feels more musical and calming. Rhythm suits him more, if he says so himself.

“Rhythm.” Haruka says with a curt nod. “You can play lead.”

Rin looks at him a little surprised for a moment. What? Did he pick the wrong thing? If Rin wanted to be rhythm, then why did he ask him?

“Are you sure?” Rin asks. He sounds a little unsure himself. Haruka scowls at him for a moment, giving him the mental answer. “Alright, rhythm it is for you.”

Makoto offers Haruka a small smile in order to take the look off of his face.

“So, we have our lead and rhythm guitar, a keyboard and drummer…” Rin reads out loud as he notes them down in the book. He stares at his writing for a minute, pondering about who else they could have.

“A bassist would be nice…” Makoto says, exactly what Rin was thinking.

“Yeah, and a singer, too!” Nagisa exclaims, and then it’s his turn to be stared at. Do they not want a singer? Either that or maybe they’re looking at them for a different reason. “Unless one of you want to sing? I’m far too busy with the drums!”

“I- uh, I’ll pass.” Makoto smiles nervously.

“Haru-chan, can you-”

“No.”

Rin inwardly sighs. He doesn’t exactly want to be the singer either, if push comes to shove he’ll do it, but he doesn’t want to be the leader of everything. He’s already the club president and the lead guitarist. He can’t handle more than three jobs. Everybody would hate him.

“Well…” He begins, filling in the silence that everybody has left. “Maybe if we find a bassist, they’ll want to be a singer, too hopefully.”

“Hey, yeah! That sounds like a great idea!” Nagisa cheers, taking the book and pen from Rin and scribbling something down. Rin watches him, a little weirded out. It’s not exactly an idea.. “Oh, oh, I’ve got it! We should make posters!”

“Posters?” Both Rin and Makoto say in unison.

“Yup! Posters! We can advertise the club around the school, and we can put things like ‘Bassist needed!’ and ‘Come and sing to us!’ and ‘Best singer gets a lifetime supply of Iwatobi cream bread!’” Nagisa enthuses, stunning them all to a silence.

“It’s not a talent show, Nagisa, and I’m pretty sure we can’t even afford to give them a lifetime supply of that bread.” Makoto chuckles. “But making a poster sounds like a good idea. You really know what you’re doing!” He praises him. Nagisa mirrors his smile.

“ _Yahoo_! I’ll get started on it then! And Rin-chan could probably buy them all, right R-”

“No way in Hell. But I agree with you. How about we all make posters, and whoever makes the best one, we’ll use to promote the club.” Rin says. Makoto and Nagisa nod and agree with him.

Haruka has other ideas. He suddenly gets up from his chair, and brings it towards the middle of the room, underneath the window. He ignores the confused noises that the other three make, and then walks over towards his guitar case.

Ah. Of course. He came here for a reason, and he wasn’t going to sit for an hour and a half straight listening to Nagisa’s whacky strategies.

Haruka unzips the case, revealing his glossy royal blue guitar. Nagisa lets out an amazed “Woah!”, leaning over his chair. He takes out his precious instrument, still clean from the last time Rin had cleaned it, and slips the strap over his shoulder. He walks over towards the chair he had moved before and sits down, facing away from the other three.

“Haru-chan, what are-” Nagisa is suddenly cut off by the sounds that soon emit throughout the room. Haruka doesn’t even have to check if his guitar is in tune, he knows, and he knows that the others are watching him. But he doesn’t care.

He joined this club for the music.

There’s a lot more they need to discuss, but none of them have the guts to talk over Haruka’s guitar. Instead, they all sit in silence, watching him play so calmly, eliciting gentle notes from such a heavy instrument. The guitar isn’t even plugged into the amplifier, but they all hear it so clearly. His song is soft, like the almost winds outside the windows, though it meets to be a happy song, playing the sound of sunlight that is cast upon him; sweet happy chords that don’t reflect Haruka’s looks at all.

Suddenly, the song comes to an abrupt ending.

“Carry on.” Haruka snaps. He doesn’t turn to face them, but he addresses this at them, of course. They all quickly think of something to say, Makoto opts to apologise, but Nagisa beats him to it.

“Wow, Haru-chan! You thought of something already?” Nagisa gasps, looking into the back of Haruka’s head with a bright shine in his eyes. Haruka’s shoulders stiffen.

“No. I’ve had this in my head for a while. I wanted to try playing it.” Haruka admits, looking back at Nagisa over his shoulder. Nagisa in reply tilts his head.

“Huh?” Nagisa says, looking a little puzzled. “You’ve never played that before?”

“I told you. I’ve had it in my head, I just wanted to try playing it.” Haruka says a little forcefully before turning back around and positioning his fingers. Soon enough, the same melody follows.

“Haru has always been like that, Nagisa. He’s always creating something in that head of his.” Makoto says softly. He smiles as he watches him still, knowing that Haruka is a tad annoyed.

“Yeah. Every morning we have to pull him off of that thing. But it looks like we won’t have to now.” Rin joins in, smiling to himself as he himself has literally just realised this. It feels good to finally have his friends by his side in this club. It’s just a shame about Sousuke.

Nagisa suddenly shoots up from his chair again, he bounds over towards Haruka, surprising him a little. He doesn’t wait for Haruka to stop playing, but the older boy looks up at him with another scowl. What is his problem?

“Haru-chan, I’ve got an idea!” Nagisa leans forward. Again, he doesn’t wait for Haruka to reply. “Let’s play something together! I have my drum sticks with me today, so come on!” He says a little too excitedly. Rin and Makoto watch in surprise from the table.

“...” Haruka doesn’t say a thing. He looks up at Nagisa before readying his hands on his guitar for the third time. “If you can keep up.” He says finally, and begins to play already.

“Alright!” Nagisa cheers, before hurrying over to his bag, and pulling out two long drumming sticks. They’re nothing special. He then skips over towards the drum set that’s finally set up in the corner thanks to himself and Makoto, and sits down on the seat behind it.

Makoto and Rin watch him, silent and careful from the table.

“Should we do something?” Makoto whispers to Rin. Rin shakes his head silently.

“We’ve never heard Nagisa play before. This is our time to find out what he’s like.” Rin whispers back, and Makoto swiftly turns his head to concentrate on the two in front of them.

Rin knows that he’s the only person who can keep up with Haruka. Makoto can for a while, but his stamina lacks, and although he’s good at reading thoughts, he can’t seem to break through Haruka’s creative half. Surely Nagisa can’t play up to the challenge.

It looks like Haruka isn’t going to stop for Nagisa to count them in, so he waits for the perfect moment to join in. In his head, he figures out the beat of Haruka’s instrumental tune. It’s not fast, but it’s not slow either. It’s more towards the slow side though. Nagisa taps his drum sticks together for a moment, he starts out a little faster than Haruka’s tempo, he slows and slows until he thinks he’s on the same tempo as him. Haruka doesn’t give him any signals at all. Wait, _are his eyes closed?_

Rin nods slowly. Nagisa has an interesting technique of figuring out tempo. Makoto watches for any sneaky movements in Haruka’s arms.

The loud _bang_ of the bass drum fills the room suddenly, shaking the two on the other side of the room in their seats. Nagisa’s face is full of concentration for a moment, before breaking out into a cheeky smile. He stops tapping his sticks together and raises one of them high in the air, bringing it down with a _crash_ against one of the drums.

From then on, both Rin and Makoto raise their eyebrows at the same time.

Nagisa plays so powerful, that his arms don’t even look like they’re bending. In fact, they aren’t. It’s like they’re waving in time with the beat. The beat is loud, so very loud, and more or less powers over Haruka’s guitar. Haruka himself doesn’t even seem to notice this, because to him, all he can hear is his guitar.

The smile that spreads slowly across Nagisa’s face brightens the room. His moves are so energetic, like the energy he puts into his drumming is slowly being passed around each drum, back through the drum sticks, and back to him. Like a constant flow of undying energy. The same goes for Haruka. Each strum, each note, has some sort of bursting fire exploding from it.

Rin is honestly amazed. Nagisa is a great drummer. Therefore, he isn’t doubting anything he does from now on. However, his playing does tend to get a little faster. And faster. And even faster. Both he and Haruka are out of time with each other, but neither of them notice. Makoto’s look of awe slowly turns to one of worry.

“Um… Guys?” Makoto tries to say in order to stop them, but he can’t even hear himself speaking. Did he even open his mouth?

Haruka starts to swing his head from side to side, a sight that usually makes him laugh, but this time it doesn’t. He’s getting far too into this. And Nagisa has completely gone off track.

It’s impressive, though.

“Guys?” Makoto says again, a little louder. When they both refuse to respond to him again, he looks to Rin for help. Rin makes a anxious face, before standing up from his chair, hoping to catch their attention. But he doesn’t. So he moves closer to them, almost wincing at the power and volume of Nagisa’s drumming.

“Hey!” He yells. Still no success. Okay, now he’s getting angry. This is something they have to work on. There is no way he’s letting this happen again. “ _Hey!_ ” He yells again.

Rin moves over towards Haruka, and grabs the boy’s wrist.

“ _HEY!_ ” He literally shrieks. And it works; Nagisa comes to a holt, and Haruka’s guitar makes one last sound before buzzing. The boy glares up at Rin. “We are _not_ , letting that happen again.” He pants.

“That was amazing, Haru-chan!” Nagisa beams, leaning over his drum set. Makoto and Rin inwardly disagree for the most part. Haruka however, choses to stay silent. He makes minimal attempt of trying to escape from Rin’s grip, giving small tugs every now and then.

“We have to work on that before we start playing anything together.” Rin nods, giving Haruka a warning look before letting go. Luckily, Haruka doesn’t return to playing his song. "Nagisa, you’re good at drums. I can really feel the energy from you.”

Nagisa nods quietly. Now it does feel like a talent show. But this is _the_ Matsuoka Rin in front of him, and if he wants to be a part of his band, he must do as he’s been told.

“But,” He starts again, taking the smile off of Nagisa’s face. “You and Haru are similar. You both get too caught up in your music and take off somewhere else. Which is good, in more ways than one. You both show that you can expand your tempo’s, and you’re both full of power. But you two needed to keep in time with each other, stay in the right mindset. Okay? And we’ll work on that.”

Makoto chuckles softly at the table. Rin sure knows what he’s doing.

“I thought you were both very good!” Makoto says happily, flashing them all a warm smile.

“Yay! At least Mako-chan liked it!” Nagisa smiles back at him. “You’re tough, Rin-chan. See, Haru-chan agrees with me!”

Rin looks down at Haruka, who looks back up at him with a frown, nodding.

He pauses for a moment. _Oh no_. Is that him being too assertive? He only wanted to help him, he didn’t mean to upset them. Shit. What if Nagisa has friends in first year that are willing to know about the club? What if Nagisa tells them all about him being an asshole to him, and they spread it around? _He doesn’t want to_ -

“Rin.” Haruka’s slightly concerned voice snaps him out of his thoughts. Even Makoto looks a little sympathetic behind him. Rin looks a little surprised, before shaking his head of all negativity. Not today.

“Sorry, I was just thinking. Don’t worry about anything, we’re just starting out, and we shouldn’t be perfect, of course we aren’t.” Rin says with a reassuring smile, stepping to the side so that they can all see his face. Makoto nods.

“You’re right. There are things we can work on, but now that we’re all aware of each other’s talents, we know what we can work on.” Makoto says, standing up from the table and walking over to stand beside Rin, so that they’re all close.

“Heh, you say we’re aware of our talents, but I don’t think Nagisa has heard you play the keyboard yet, Makoto.” Rin smirks. Makoto blushes lightly.

“O-oh, yeah. Sorry, Nagisa…” He mutters. He totally forgot about that. Let’s just pray that Rin doesn’t ask him to-

“Hey, didn’t you say you had an idea for a song on the way up? Why don’t you show us?” Rin suggests.

Makoto’s heart stops for a moment. He feels like kicking himself in the face for saying that before. Rin can stare him pretty all he likes, but there’s nothing that’s convincing Makoto to take those lyrics out of his pocket. There’s no way that the three of them can know about his little crush.

Did he just say crush?

“Makoto? It’s alright, I was just saying. You don’t have to show us if you don’t think you’re ready yet.” Rin panics again after witnessing Makoto’s sudden facial expression change.

“Hey, don’t you think our song was so fun, Haru-chan?” Nagisa voices over the little awkward silence that comes from Makoto.

Yet again, Haruka doesn’t say anything. He just shrugs.

“Aww, come on! You and me make a good tune!” Nagisa cheers, stepping out from behind the drums for a moment. “Even Rin-chan said, he could feel our energy!” he says, moving a little closer to the two standing boys. Rin nods with a small smile.

“It was like all of the energy you both had just went on, forever and ever, and ever.”

“Blue.” Haruka says.

“Blue? What are you talking about, Haru-chan?”  
  
“Ever Blue.”

The silence that fills the room isn’t awkward anymore. Instead, it’s comforting. It feels like they could settle down there pretty quickly. It’s warm, and welcoming.

“I like it.” Haruka smiles to himself.

The rest of the band seem to agree, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked that chapter, I especially loved writing Haru's & Nagisa's scenes, I just get the feeling the two of them would be like that. pls no h8 m8 love love peace peace am i right
> 
> man eurovision was great
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions on my blog! 
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	13. Innocent Accidents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If Makoto had a scent, it would be Pine. 
> 
> Jesus Christ, dat boi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yAHOO!! NEW UPDATE!!
> 
> IT!! IS!! 3AM!! 
> 
> I!! AM!! DYING!!
> 
> //someone please save me from these awful chapter titles, this one will probably change soon bc it succs lmao

The same night, Makoto decides to shut himself away in his room again. He works on a poster for the music club, he writes a simple ‘Join the Music Club!’ at the top, and underneath it he lists the things that the band are looking for, as well as simple things, like ‘Let’s start a band!’

The Poster is pretty simple, it’s just a simple doodle of a bass (That he had to look up on his computer), and a few things written around it, in simple colours. He’s not a good artist like Haruka, and he isn’t too great with words like Rin. But hopefully, they’ll have made something better that looks better than his. Or maybe Nagisa has. Who knows? 

But tonight he doesn’t want to focus on making posters to advertise the club. Makoto promised himself on the walk home today that he would work on the lyrics he wrote, and make them something that he can actually show his friends. 

Begrudgingly, he takes out the extremely folded up piece of paper from his blazer hung up on his wall, and returns back to his seat at his table. He even cringes himself when he opens it up. 

He definitely needs to work on these.

So that’s what he’s going to spend the rest of his night doing. He takes out a pencil and gets himself a new sheet of paper. He writes the entire thing out again, just the same as the first draft, still missing a chorus and a bridge, and rubs out the parts that he finds cringeful.

Which is hard, because the entire thing seems cringeful to him.

He sighs out loud, before taking both pieces of paper and scrunching them up, tossing them behind him somewhere without a care about where they land.

For the second time, he takes out a fresh piece of paper, and sets it down in front of him, staring at it long and hard. To be honest, all he needed to do was switch up the lyrics from the first one he wrote, and it’s all good to go from them on. Well, if his other band members approved of it, of course.

In the end, he decides to scrap it again, and start anew. He also decides to keep the subject of the song the same.

Pressing the cold rubber of the pencil to his lips, he thinks deeply again. How does he feel towards him exactly? He recalls unknowingly calling it a crush, earlier on today in the club. But, is that really okay, after only a week of knowing him?   
  
Makoto tells himself he’s being too indecisive. Of course it’s not too soon. There’s always been such thing as ‘Love at first sight’, right? He remembers Rin even telling him he’d seen it in- Wait,  _ love? _ Oh, no no. Now  _ that _ was not okay. He knows for certain he can’t call it love, because it  _ is _ too soon for that. He doesn’t even know what his favourite colour is, damn it.

Hmm. What would it be? Perhaps it’s a dark colour. He supposes Sousuke would look good in those colours, like greys, and blacks, dark blues and purples… Picturing these in his head, he rests his forearms on the table, resting his chin against the surface, too. 

He imagines him wearing a thick, black turtleneck at first, it looks so good on him, but it’s a bit too much clothing for Makoto’s taste. So it changes into a simple plain shirt. It’s a little lighter, too. But that’s also too much. It becomes a tank top, and Makoto doesn’t even notice his eyes are closing. His muscles poke through the thin material, golden skin glistening throughout wherever they are. He doesn’t really care where they are, as long as he gets to see every inch of this being in front of him. Makoto can’t move his arms. He can’t reach out and touch him like he wants to, instead, he has to suffer from the sidelines and watch.

And then it happens all too quickly. Sousuke peels the shirt from his body, and the little noise that Makoto makes is enough to wake him up from his little daydream. His body shivers, and he shakes his head like a wet dog. He picks up his phone to look at his reflection in the screen; his eyes are dark and his cheeks are turning red. This is not good. There is no need for him being so  _ thirsty. _

He begins to think that maybe he’s not attracted to Sousuke as a person. Maybe it’s just his looks that have him dreaming and imagining his body, close to him. Let’s face it, Sousuke is incredibly fit and handsome, and that’s only seeing him in his uniform. No. Scrap that. Sousuke is hot. Unbelievably hot. So much to the point where he’s having dreams about him.

Perhaps he’s physically attracted to him. He doesn’t know Sousuke well enough to be attracted to his personality. Apart from that, he seems like a genuinely nice person on a whole. Sure, he might be a bit blunt with Haruka, but Haruka doesn’t take lightly to meeting new people most of the time.

But there’s something that plays on his mind about that dream that tells him it isn’t just physical attraction. It sounds like it’s leaning a bit more towards…  _ Sexual _ attraction.

Makoto sighs and shakes his head again. There’s no way that can be it. He knows himself far too well, and he knows that somebody like him couldn’t even imagine such things. But he did.

He’s a bit surprised when he looks to his right, and sees the moon seeping through the slit in his curtains. How long was he thinking for? 

The sights outside his window have always calmed him down. He feels like the stars could answer any question he had, knowing that they physically couldn’t. Makoto nods to himself before getting up and switching off his lights, and drawing back the curtains. The moon’s pale glow illuminates his room once again, and he sits back down at his table, writing beneath the moonlight.

The second his pencil touches the paper, a wave of inspiration hits him.

\---

“Hey! You there! You look like a fan of music, am I right?” Nagisa says, but it falls on deaf ears as the smaller boy walks straight past him.

Nagisa stands in the middle of one of the hallways, holding a large inflatable microphone in one hand, and an inflatable guitar in the other. It was the closest he could find to a bass. Behind him, is his music club poster that he’s stuck to the wall.

So far, literally no one has shown any interest. They’ve only asked him what his purpose is, and why he’s taking up so much of the space in the hall. Nagisa pouts to himself, putting down one of the inflatables to have a quick drink of water. He’s been out here all morning. At this rate, it looks like the music club is stuck with four members.

“Hazuki-kun?” One of his classmates pass him by. They have silvery-gray hair, and big blue eyes, complemented by a small beauty mark underneath one of them.

“Ai-chan! Have you ever wanted to be in a band?” Nagisa cheers enthusiastically. He picks up his inflatable again, and looks at him hopefully.

“Ai-chan? Please, just call me Nitori.” The boy says, looking around a little awkwardly in thought. “And, well… Not really, sorry.” He gives Nagisa an apologetic smile, before starting to walk away.

“Wait! What if I told you, the great and powerful Matsuoka Rin was a member of this band?” Nagisa tempts, following him by a few footsteps. It seems to work, as Nitori slowly turns around on one foot.

“...Matsuoka?” Nitori asks a little curiously. “You mean, Toraichi’s son, Matsuoka?” 

“That’s the one and only!” Nagisa chirps, sticking out his tongue. Nitori pauses for a moment, before watching as a tall shadow appears at the other end of the hall.

“ _ Oi, Nagisa. What the hell are you doing _ ?” Says the voice of who they were talking about. Nagisa freezes in his spot before turning around slowly, himself.

“A-ah! Rin-chan! Look, I’m advertising, the music club! Ai-chan seems a little interested, right Ai-” Nagisa pauses when he notices that Nitori has mysteriously disappeared from their sights. He’s gesturing to nothing.

“...Nagisa, have you slept at all?” Rin sighs.

“Huh? I’ve had plenty of sleep, Rin-chan! I slept all night so that I’d have enough energy for today!” He beams. Rin shakes his head.

“You can’t even hold those inflatables properly.” He chuckles lightly. “Well, let us know afterwards if you have any success.” Rin says, before walking past Nagisa himself and down towards his class. Huh. So that’s where their class is located. At least he knows, now.

“Roger!” Nagisa nods.

A few more people pass him, either looking at him weirdly or not looking at him at all. Some of them wave him off with small smiles, and some roll their eyes at him.

The next person to enter the hallway, is a taller boy. One who he recognises again. The boy is a lot taller than him, he has short blue hair, and owns a pair of red glasses. He always has that bright green bag strapped to his body, and always holds his head high. For some reason, he looks like the perfect addition to their club. Nagisa smiles triumphantly. 

“Ryugazaki-kun, interested in mu-”   
  
“I’m sorry. I’ve already joined the chorus club.” He states a little harshly, fixing his glasses and walking on by. But it doesn’t take the smile off of Nagisa’s face.

“So you sing?” Nagisa asks, feeling a little glimmer in his eye again.

“I compose.” The taller boy says, not turning to face him.

“You’d be perfect for the music club! Why don’t you-”   
  
“I am not leaving the chorus club. I’m sorry.” And that’s all he says, not turning to face Nagisa again and walking straight on up ahead.

Nagisa’s smile fades, but his determination doesn’t. He’s going to get that boy to join their club. If he composes, then surely he can compose songs for them. Who knows, he might actually play an instrument, too.

Nagisa clenches his fists as he watches Ryugazaki fade out of sight.

Learning his first name would be a good idea.

\---

“I saw Nagisa this morning.” Rin says to Makoto and Haruka at lunch. They’re of course on the roof, eating their lunches. But this time, it’s only the three of them. Sousuke has disappeared somewhere, Makoto doesn’t remember him leaving, or even showing up in that matter. He was in classes, of course.

“You did? Where?” Makoto asks since Haruka has decided to stay quiet.

“He was out in the halls, parading about with inflatable instruments.” Rin recalls, trying not to laugh. Makoto laughs lightheartedly, whilst Haruka looks a little weirded out.

“He’s doing a great job of keeping the club alive, huh.” Makoto replies, which puts a small smile on Rin’s face.

“I guess you’re right. I get the feeling that we should all do something to help out, too…” Rin mumbles. “Did you two make posters?”

“Uh-huh!” Makoto nods, getting his bag and searching for his own. Rin does the same, and Haruka follows a moment after.

Makoto reveals his first, getting a nice comment from Rin, and a “nice” from Haruka. He feels a little proud of himself. Rin’s is next. His isn’t exactly great, it’s kinda similar to Makoto’s except it’s more wordy than anything. He hasn’t signed it anywhere or given his identity out of course.

Both Rin and Makoto’s eyes widen when Haruka takes out his. It’s like a work of art. Haruka’s poster is a beautiful drawing of a bass guitar, being held by somebody anonymously, with “Join the Music Club” written at the top. They’ll definitely be using this one.

“Haru, that’s amazing!” Rin exclaims, taking the drawing from out of Haruka’s grip. Of course he feels a little defeated, as does Makoto, of course they do. But with Haruka’s artistic skills, it was obvious. Rin is actually more surprised as to the fact Haruka has actually contributed something to the club.

“It’s just a simple sketch…” Haruka mutters, looking off towards the side. Rin and Makoto look up at him a little stupidly.

“Simple?” They both say, dumbfoundedly.

\---

A few minutes after he’s eaten, Makoto decides he needs to take a quick toilet break. He should not have drank all of that water this morning. But his throat was dry, and he was a little hydrated after staying up for so long writing that song again.

As he makes his way back into the building, he thinks about how it’ll go down this afternoon. Will they like his song? Will they use it? More importantly, will he have the courage to show them it, this time?

Makoto enters the bathroom, finding it empty. Once he’s finished going about his business, he turns to wash his hands in the sink. He looks up at his reflection in the mirror as he does so. His hair is still nice and neat, and there isn’t any hint of a blush on his face. Of course there isn’t, he hasn’t had any of  _ those _ thoughts since last night. 

Upon exiting the bathroom, he shakes his head and closes his eyes. Sometimes he wishes his thoughts didn’t exist. The he wouldn’t have to struggle with overthinking and worrying over-

_ “Oof!” _

Makoto’s eyes open the moment he feels a tough and sturdy body colliding into him, and he stares in shock straight ahead at the perfectly sculpted jawline in front of his eyes. Oh no. He slowly lifts his head, being met with who else but  _ him. _

“Ah, Yamazaki-kun, I’m sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going…” Makoto apologises quickly, before realising he didn’t call him Sousuke like he had asked him to. He wants to curl up into a ball in this exact moment.

“It’s fine. And I told you, just Sousuke...” He says, looking down at Makoto a little baffled. Makoto looks back at him for a short moment before realising that they’re still a little pressed up and takes a few steps back.

“Sousuke,” He nods a little slow. “Are you coming up for lunch?” He adds a little hesitantly.

“Yeah. I just have to take care of something real quick.” Sousuke says, turning around and heading back the way he came from. “Tell Rin I’ll be up soon.”

Makoto nods, despite knowing that Sousuke can’t see him. He watches as the other boy continues his slow walk down the hallway, looking up and around at the signs above the doors.

_ Is he…? _

Sousuke turns towards the other way again, and catches Makoto staring at him. Makoto panics again before trying to bail out and hops up the stairs that are thankfully right next to him.

“Makoto.” Sousuke calls out a little softly. Makoto stops mid-step, looking down at his shoes for a second before turning back and heading down the couple of steps.

“Yes?” He asks a little timidly. He knows that Sousuke is gonna kill him for staring. He lowers his head a little shyly.

“... _er’s_ _the_ …. _off._...” Sousuke mumbles almost mutely. Makoto lifts his head slow, seeing Sousuke glaring into the wall in front of him.

“...What was that, sorry?” Makoto asks again, offering him a small smile in hopes that he’ll let him off easy. Sousuke huffs through his nose heavily.

“Where’s the damn office?” Sousuke snaps. Makoto should be a little surprised, but in all honesty, he’s a little amused. So Sousuke  _ was _ lost. He chuckles softly, but stops when Sousuke turns his head to glare at him.

“This way.” Makoto says, gesturing with his head for Sousuke to follow him. The office is kinda on the other side of the building, but it won’t take them more than five minutes to get there. Sousuke looks like he’s hesitating for a moment before deciding to follow Makoto. He keeps his distance, walking a few steps behind him. “The school building is kinda big, so I can’t blame you for getting l-”

“Shut up. I wasn’t lost, I just… thought it was the other office I had to go to.” Sousuke pipes up from behind him. Makoto doesn’t mention the fact that there’s only one office in the school. He just lets Sousuke believe what he wants to, and smiles to himself. It’s kinda cute.

“What is it you need to go to the office for?” Makoto asks, hoping that he isn’t being too invasive. He just wants to make conversation.

“I need to let somebody know about the clubs. I can’t join any because of my dog.” Sousuke replies, despite Makoto already knowing why.

“I see. Hopefully they’ll let you off.” Makoto smiles again.

“Yeah.”

That’s their conversation until they reach the office, Sousuke doesn’t thank Makoto, instead he makes a small “Oh” and then enters the room. Makoto decides to do the nice thing and wait for him outside. He’s a little longer than five minutes, but looks a little surprised when he reopens the door with a couple sheets in his hands.

“You didn’t have to wait for me…” Sousuke mutters, deciding to lead the way back this time. Makoto thinks about mentioning something about not wanting him to get lost on his way back before deciding that that isn’t really a good idea based on his first reaction. Sousuke doesn’t exactly look too pleased right now, if he’s being honest.

“I had nothing better to do.” Makoto shrugs, slowly realising what he’s just said and feeling himself blushing faintly. Hopefully Sousuke won’t turn around. He really didn’t mean to say that, it was honestly all he had in mind.

Sousuke himself has to raise his eyebrows at that.

They walk back to the roof together in silence, Makoto silently hopes that his blush has disappeared by the time they reach the outdoors. Sousuke holds the door open for him.

“Ah, there he is- Yo, Sousuke! What did they say?” Rin says, waving to Sousuke when he sees him with Makoto in tow.

“Bullshit.” Sousuke grumbles, moving over quickly and taking his usual spot next to Rin. Makoto sits next to Haruka, who’s been quiet all morning.

“Are you alright, Haru?” Makoto asks, a little concerned. Haruka chews and swallows one of his mackerel pieces before turning his head to look at Makoto.

“Yeah. Why?” Haruka replies, monotone as ever.

“You’ve been quiet all day.” Makoto smiles down at him.

“...I’ve been thinking of another song.” Haruka says, picking up a clump of rice between his chopsticks and placing it in his mouth.

“We can’t wait to hear it.” Makoto nods, taking out his own lunch. Today, he doesn’t have any snacks for his friends. He stays quiet about it, deciding to listen to Sousuke’s little story.

“They said I still have to join a club, and just attend the morning sessions. Said it’ll give me something to write on a resume. I don’t see what difference it makes.” Sousuke complains. Makoto agrees with him silently for a moment. They only get so much time in the mornings for clubs, and they’ve only held a morning club session twice in the past two weeks themselves. But at the same time, it  _ is _ something to put on a resume.

“Well at least you can join a club, right?” Rin suggests, giving Sousuke an assuring look. Sousuke glares back at him. Makoto bites into his chicken piece to stop himself from laughing.

“Wow. That’s great.” Sousuke says sarcastically. “I’d rather have an extra ten minutes sleep.”

Rin rolls his eyes before going back to eating his lunch. He knows that Sousuke can’t join the music club, so there honestly is no point.

\---

“Haru-chan, you’re playing something new again?” Nagisa says when he enters the club room again. It’s just Haruka this time. Makoto and Rin have yet to show up. 

Haruka looks up at the younger boy, nodding slowly.

“I thought of this one this morning when I was making breakfast.” Haruka says to him.

“Woah, a song inspired by breakfast!” Nagisa cheers, he walks over to the table behind Haruka, and sets his bag and blazer down. “I wish I could do something like that… Hey, Haru-chan, I didn’t get time to eat my Iwatobi cream bread this morning, do you mind if I eat it now? It might inspire me!”

“Knock yourself out. I don’t mind.” Haruka says, waiting for Nagisa to stop rustling that plastic and be quiet. When he is, he plays his song again. It wasn’t exactly inspired by breakfast, but mackerel can be inspiring for other things.

Rin pushes the door open, holding it so that Makoto can get the amplifier he has in his hands through the door.

“Does this one look any good?” Makoto asks, carrying it over towards the end of the room, showing it off to Haruka, who looks a little annoyed because he’s had to stop playing for the second time.

“It looks fine to me.” Haruka says, watching as Makoto dusts off his hands after putting down the amplifier. It was average sized, but those things were kinda heavy.

Rin closes the door behind him, walking over to his seat at the table, but pauses for a moment. 

“Hey, Haru…” Rin is next to interrupt Haruka. Haruka holds back a sigh, looking up to Rin expectantly. “Are you ever gonna like… Let us use these?”

“Use what?” Haruka replies. Rin almost facepalms.

“Your songs. I mean, obviously, we’ll make our own and we won’t just let you create th-”

“Sure.” Haruka cuts him off.

“-Really?” Rin says, a little surprised. He was honestly expecting Haruka to take full ownership of his little songs.

“Yes. I don’t care.” Haruka says, turning to face his guitar, and hoping that nobody else will say anything to him.

“Great!, Thanks Haru!” Rin says, leaving him alone and sitting back at the table. “So, have any of you come up with anything?”

“Yeah! I made these posters,” Nagisa says happily, putting his bread to one side and taking the posters out of his bag. Each one is heavily coloured in, and look a little abstract. “I made  _ this _ one, but then I thought it might look a bit better if I did _ this _ to it, but then I thought it lacked a bit of  _ this _ .” He commentates, pointing to each of his posters.

“I guess we can hang each of ours around the schools. But we’ll put Haru’s on the pin-up board, right?” Makoto suggests. Haruka sulks at hearing his name being said again, but he doesn’t stop playing.

“Yeah, that sounds like a plan.” Rin nods.

“Huh? I haven’t even seen Haru-chan’s poster, yet!” Nagisa whines, he turns on his chair to call Haruka over, but Rin is quick to speak over him.

“He’ll show you when he’s done playing, I’m sure.” Rin says loudly. Nagisa turns back towards Rin. “So anyway Nagisa, did you get any luck this morning?” Rin asks with a small smile.

“Yeah!” Nagisa exclaims. Rin and Makoto look at each other excitedly for a second. “Well…” Nagisa reaches up to rub the back of his neck. The older two go back to looking unamused. “I’m gonna convince him!”

“Him…” Makoto repeats.

“Yeah, Ryugazaki-kun from my class.” Nagisa nods.

“Does he play the bass?” Rin asks, looking a smidge hopeful. Nagisa frowns, and so does Rin.

“I don’t think so, but he composes music! He’s part of the chorus club!” Nagisa gets all excited again, and sits up straight in his chair.

“Wait, he already attends a club? Wouldn’t it be kinda rude to pull him out?” Makoto says, wearing a small pout.

“Who even goes to the chorus club? Boooring!” Nagisa says uptight. Rin cocks an eyebrow at him. “Besides, he looks like he’s more fit for our club! And he composes music! He can write songs for us!”

Haruka’s guitar gets a little louder.

“...He’s right. Nagisa, what can we do to get him?” Rin suddenly looks a little determined.

“You’re agreeing with him?”

“We have to convince him somehow! How about that lifetime supply of Iwatobi cream breads, Rin-chan?” Nagisa pounces over the table at Rin. Rin doesn’t move.

“No. There has to be another way.” Rin says, looking at Nagisa for answers.

“I’ve got it!” Nagisa springs up. 

Makoto can literally hear the harshness of Haruka strumming his guitar.

“What?”

“A song! I can convince him to come for a tester, right? We can lure him in with a song!” Nagisa leans back down, looking confidently at his upperclassmen.

“That’s it!” Rin cheers. “That’s a good way to get new members, and it’s also a good way of making our first song together!”

“Yay! We just have to think of a tune, but we also have to think of lyrics…” Nagisa pauses, sitting back down in his seat. He turns to his bag to get his notebook back out.

“Actually…” Makoto joins in, looking a little nervous. Now it’s time to show them what he worked hard on last night. Rin and Nagisa slowly look over towards Makoto.

“Makoto… You’ve written something?” Rin says, a small smile forms on his lips. 

“Ooh! Show us, show us!” Nagisa says thrillingly. 

Makoto makes a small nervous noise before reaching into his inside pocket. Well, it’s now or never. Huh. That’s weird. There’s two folded up pieces of paper in here. He swore he only put one of them back last night. He tries not to panic for a minute before pulling out the one closest to his chest. It’s snatched from his hands by Nagisa before he can even unfold it.

Makoto watches them both, chewing the inside of his lip. Rin shuffles over the table to read them for himself, both his and Nagisa’s heads get closer to the paper, looking at in intensely. Makoto’s heart stops for a moment when Nagisa pulls back for a moment. It doesn’t start beating again when he sees a huge smirk forming on Rin’s face.

_ Wait. _ That piece of paper is crumpled.  _ Oh God _ . Those are the first ones he wrote. He’s dead meat.

“ _ Makoto _ ~” Rin says in that oh-so teasing voice, it drips with amusement.

In a flash of panic, Makoto snatches them back, crumpling them again in his hand and shoving them back in his pocket. He smiles nervously, letting out a small laugh.

“Heheh… W-wrong lyrics?” He says, and he can literally feel his voice shivering when he speaks.

“Wrong? You wrote more?” Nagisa leans forward, getting a little too close to the flustered boy.

“Never mind more, Makoto, you wrote a  _ love song _ ?” Rin teases him again. He lets out a tiny laugh, but he doesn’t laugh because it was funny.

Haruka’s guitar gets quieter.

“I-It’s not about anybody!” Makoto shakes his head. “I was just pretending!” He laughs a little anxiously, again. “ _ They’re so cheesy _ …” He wheezes out.

“ _ Sure _ , Mako-chan.” Nagisa looks up at him mischievously. “Who is it?”

“Nobody! I was just pretending!” Makoto says, a little displeased. He pouts angrily at Nagisa.

“Rin-chan, Mako-chan is lying to me.” Nagisa whines, pulling on Rin’s blazer lapels. Rin looks down at him a little surprised. “I know he has a special someone in his head, but he won’t-”

“ _Oi_. Leave him alone.” Haruka snaps, looking back over his shoulder, and stopping his music altogether.

Haruka is good at reading minds, so when he looks at Makoto through the tiny gap between Nagisa and Rin, he knows that he isn’t hiding anything from them.

Makoto inwardly praises himself for being so good at lying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O SHIT WADDUP?? IS THAT NITORI?? SHIT BOI!! IS THAT REI/?? its almost 4am kill me
> 
> I hope you all liked that chapter! I sure did! Also, I've come up with a new update plan. I'm going to try and update every other day, so two days from now, chapter 14 should be here! Yay!
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions on my blog! 
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	14. Help and Guidance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto finally shows the Music Club the song he wrote. However, he has a different tactic.
> 
> this chapter title fucking hell karu you're not doing much better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yooo!!
> 
> I am so so SO sorry for not updating for a little while. I was going to update last night, but I couldn't, for reasons I can't say. I've sat very important exams recently, and I apologise for not notifying you all. Those who follow me on tumblr however probably saw all of my posts about me freaking out lmao
> 
> So with that aside, here's chapter 14!!

How he's managed to get away with it is beyond him. Makoto honestly thought he was done for, that his secret was spilt and he had to bare the rest of his life with his friends teasing him. But he doesn't.

Nagisa and Rin have no idea who it's about.

Even with such embarrassing lyrics, not even Rin, Sousuke’s best friend, has caught on.

However, the two of them now suspect that he’s into someone. Makoto has to do all that he can now to protect his little secret. Rin would kill him if he found out. They’re currently reading through the lyrics that he wrote last night, which he actually got around to finishing. Rin huffs through his nose bemusedly and tilts his head cutely every now and then, before snapping out of it, looking around and carrying on. Nagisa looks a little queasy.

“Mako-chan…” Nagisa groans, not looking himself. He sticks his tongue out and makes a disgusted noise, turning away from the paper. “ _Bleh!_ ”

Makoto puts his hands behind his back, looking down at his shoes, feeling a little embarrassed. He guesses that both of them are just as bad as each other. This was a horrible ideas.

“Hey, they aren’t that bad!” Rin barks at Nagisa, then smiles approvingly at Makoto, before noticing that Makoto isn’t looking back at him, but at the floor sadly. He wears a small pout, and his eyes droop even more, if that’s even possible. “Makoto, I… I think they’re great!”

It takes Makoto a moment to respond, but he does eventually, lifting his head shyly.

“Really? ...You’re not just saying that?” He asks, with a hint of a tiny smile. Rin nods back at him.

“Yeah! They’re sweet. And I really like how you addressed it all.” Rin smiled, speaking with great enthusiasm. Makoto’s smile brightens.

“Wow, thank you Rin! I don’t feel so bad about them now, I suppose…” He chuckles softly. “I even thought they were a little cringe-worthy myself, but, I guess they’re okay now.”

“I just don’t get it…” Nagisa frowns, putting a finger to his lips in thought. He studies Makoto’s lyrics again for a moment quietly, knowing that the other two are watching him. “Mako-chan, are you in love with a millionaire?”

Makoto tries his hardest not to let himself blush.

“N-no! I’m not in love with anybody!” Makoto cries, lunging forward and making another grab at the sheet, which is starting to look a little crinkled. Rin can’t hide the little laugh he lets out. “I, I thought you’d understand it…”

“I get it, he means that whoever he’s in-”

“I know! Let’s let him figure it out!” Makoto buts in. If Rin actually carried on and exposed the meaning behind it, surely at some point he’d put together what it meant and call him out on it. Rin blinks slow for a moment before giving a small shrug.

“Yeah, if you figure it out yourself, there’s all the more surprise for you.” Rin smirks down at Nagisa, who jumps up and snatches the lyrics back from Makoto, who lets out a small cry. “Hey! Be careful!”

“Y-yeah… Surprise.” Makoto brushes off, tilting his head a little.

“So, Makoto, how does it go?” Rin asks him with a small smile. “Maybe if you sing it to us, it’ll sound a lot better!”

"Yeah! Sing it to us, Mako-chan!" Nagisa enthuses, eyes sparkling. Makoto blinks at him for a moment, before realising that not only is Nagisa staring at him, but so are Rin and also Haruka.

"I.... I can't." Makoto shakes his head, giving them all an apologetic smile. "I can't sing."

"Yes you can." Rin urges, looking a little serious. Makoto raises an eyebrow at him. "I've heard you sing before."

"Y-you have?" Makoto squeaks. He honestly doesn't remember singing in front of Rin at any point in his life.

"Well, you've stood next to me once when we had to sing the school anthem..." Rin gestures, shrugging his shoulders and his facial expression softens.

"Oh, _haha_..." Makoto shyly reaches up to scratch the back of his neck. He doesn't make any eye contact with any of them. "But that's just the school anthem..."

"And that's your song! Only you know how it goes! We can't sing it." Nagisa adds, lowering his eyebrows at Makoto, growing impatient. “You’re our singer!”

“What?” Makoto suddenly yelps. He also doesn’t remember signing up for that, either.

“Uh huh! If you wrote a song, you know how it goes, and you know how to sing it! _Sing_!” Nagisa sings ironically, moving closer and closer to Makoto with each word. Makoto raises his palms towards the younger, in hopes of making him stop.

"I-I…. I'm too busy with my keyboard." Makoto says softly, shaking his head. Nagisa makes a small whine, before turning around.

"Haru-chan, _pretty_ please? I bet you have a good v-"

"I said no." Haruka says curtly. He looks up at the trio in mild annoyance. His guitar has stopped altogether now. "It's too much effort."

"Well then, Rin-chan, you're the only one left. So you'll have to do it." Nagisa says, taking out his pen and his notepad.

"Wait! I can't do it. I can't have two lead jobs!"Rin argues back, taking the pen from Nagisa's hand. "I... If it means progress, I don't mind doing backing vocals..." He mutters, looking a little disappointed in himself.

"Backing? We didn't even think of that..." Makoto comments, putting a hand to his chin in thought.

"That's right! Are we going to need more than one?" Nagisa groans, taking his pen back from Rin and writing something down.

"Hey, stop!" Rin scolds him, taking the pen back. "We won't need anymore. All we need is a bassist, and if anybody else wants to join, then that's great!" He says, keeping the pen out of his reach. Makoto nods in agreement.

"Maybe Ryugazaki-kun will sing for us!" Nagisa says, his smile brightening. Rin and Makoto look to each other for a moment.

"Nagisa, isn't he a part of the Chorus club?" Makoto winces a little.

"Yeah, but _we_ need him more than they do!" Nagisa pouts. "C'mon, we haven't even had one good song yet, he could compose plenty!"

Makoto frowns, a little upset by Nagisa's comments.

"Hey, Makoto's song is fine!" Rin argues, putting a small shy smile on Makoto's face.

"But it's all lovey! Is that our image?" Nagisa whines, although he does have a point. _Is_ this their image? Usually, the first song is always some sort of snippet of how their other songs will sound. He knows that Rin is fine with all things romance, but Haruka and Nagisa on the other hand…

“We don’t have to make it our image.” Rin says, crossing his arms over his chest. “This is just one song, not all of them.”

“At least he came up with something.” Haruka echoes from the other side of the room. Nagisa looks a little offended for a second before hanging his head low.

“I’m sorry, Mako-chan…” He mumbles.

“Don’t worry, Nagisa. I can kinda tell where you’re coming from. But, I thought it was quite good…” Makoto admits, twiddling his thumbs shyly.

“Let me see it.” Haruka speaks up again, lifting up the guitar strap from his shoulder. He then realises that there isn’t any guitar stands to stand his guitar on.With a small frown, he lays it down carefully on his chair.

Makoto inwardly sweats. For some reason, Haruka is the person he least wants to share his lyrics with, he’s incredibly blunt at times and isn’t afraid to speak his mind. He watches carefully as Haruka nears him, and waits for Haruka to take the sheet out of Nagisa’s hold.

Once he has the paper in his own hands, there’s absolute silence as he reads through them. Makoto chews the inside of his lip, and even Nagisa and Rin watch him intensely for his opinion. Haruka’s expression for the most part is completely blank, until he reaches a certain point.

His nose crinkles, and he looks away from it a little. Makoto frowns. Haruka folds up the paper, and hands it back to Makoto, who takes it back just as quietly.

“...I liked the beginning.” Haruka shrugs, closing his eyes. That makes Makoto feel slightly better.

“Thank you, Haru.” Makoto smiles forgivingly at him. He goes to put them back into his pocket, but he’s stopped by Haruka’s hand. “Hm?”

“So… sing it.” Haruka states simply. Makoto’s eyes widen, and he manages to see that Rin and Nagisa are looking up at him expectantly, too. He looks back at them, a little frightened.

“Ahah… How about you guys give it a try?” Makoto suggests with an uneasy quivering smile. It worsens when they all lean forward with small glares. Makoto blinks quickly, before shuffling around them, towards the other side of the room. He feels all of their eyes following him. “...Or, I play it for you?” He squeaks.

“That could work!” Rin nods suddenly. “Nagisa hasn’t heard you play yet, and it could give us some sort of idea of what it sounds like, right?”

“Right!” Nagisa nods enthusiastically. He sits on the table instead of the seats, facing Makoto. Rin looks as if he’s about to scold him for a moment, before shrugging and doing the same. Haruka remains stood in place besides Nagisa.

Makoto smiles a little nervously before standing behind the piano that was already there. He presses one of the keys experimentally, jumping in his skin when it plays very, very loudly. He’s far too used to having his keyboard on a low volume.

“I think it’ll sound better on my keyboard.” He smiles apologetically again, going over to the side of the room where his keyboard leans against the wall, quickly opening its case and taking out his instrument. The rest of the band are silent, watching him carefully. Makoto can’t help but feel a little anxious. Especially when he realises he hasn’t got his keyboard stand, and the only place he can put it down is the table, where they’re all sat. “Um… I don’t have my stand, can I place it on the table?”

Haruka is the first to react, he simply nods and walks over to the other side of the room, followed by Nagisa and Rin, who both take chairs from underneath the table, and align them besides Haruka’s, being careful not to hit his guitar. Haruka lifts up said guitar, and holds it protectively in his lap. Great. Now they’re watching him like he’s auditioning for a talent show. All the more reasons to be anxious.

_Okay, Makoto. Calm down. They’re you’re friends, they won’t say anything bad._

He can’t be like this when they perform.

Makoto plugs in his keyboard via the wire into the socket in the wall that’s thankfully behind him. He switches on the keyboard itself and waits for the small screen to load so that he can adjust the volume and sound.

“So, I have a particular sound for it…” Makoto says, trying to start a conversation, anything to fill in the silence. He finds the sound he has, and plays a key to check the volume. It’s quiet, so he plays it again. “Is this loud enough?”

“Yeah, that’s great.” Rin nods, smiling softly, as if it were to calm his nerves. None of them say anything about the voice he has set on his keyboard.

“Okay.. Here I go.” Makoto nods, not so confidently. He clears his throat despite him not planning on opening his mouth throughout. There’s a moment of silence again as Makoto counts himself in in his head. A metronome would help out a lot in here…

He plays the song as he wrote it, it’s a little slow to begin with; one chord, a pause, followed by another. Serenading with small hint of wonder. The piano’s soft sound is mesmerizing, it sounds a little classical. But then, a second movement comes in, and creates a little bounce.

Rin bops his head in his seat. He’s liking this so far.

Makoto’s right hand plays the melody - the lyrics. They’re high up the keyboard, creating a bit of a happy mood. They’re quick, but somehow slow at the same time. It all creates a mood, one that’s not exactly understandable. But Makoto understands it so well.

Haruka has to hold himself back from picking up his guitar and playing along.

Makoto himself chews the inside of his lips nervously for two reasons. He wants his other band members to like the song, and he doesn’t want to mess it up in the process of doing so. He’s doing a rather good job so far.

There’s a change in the sound as the chorus approaches, it sounds a little sad all of a sudden, and it continues through the chorus.

Rin frowns. He’s really liking this song, but is there actually a meaning behind it? Is Makoto actually pretending that this is happening? Judging by the wild flurry of vibes he’s getting from it, it sounds a little personal.

Nagisa taps against the legs of his chair, surprisingly in time with the song, which makes Makoto a lot happier. He manages to keep in time with Nagisa’s tapping.

But eventually, the song comes to an end a little awkwardly. There isn’t a bridge or an ending, yet.

“...That’s as far as I got.” Makoto admits when a silence emits throughout the room again. He reaches up to itch at his cheek nervously.

Nagisa applauds the loudest the minute the song ends, he gets up from his seat, clapping wildly and cheering happily. Makoto blushes slightly, tilting his head with a small appreciative smile. Rin and Haruka both clap for him, Rin smiles brightly, giving him a little laugh, and Haruka nods.

“ _Amazing_ , Mako-chan!” Nagisa beams up at him with glistening eyes, he comes to the edge of the table, leaning over it and getting in Makoto’s face a bit.

“You wrote lyrics _and_ the music? That’s really impressive.” Rin nodded. “To be honest, I wasn’t expecting that. Not that I thought it was gonna be bad!” He exclaims. Rin lets out a content sigh, walking over towards the other end of the room.

“It was good.” Haru joins in, he doesn’t sound too excited, but Makoto knows he means what he says anyway. Of course, he then proceeds to slip his guitar strap over his shoulder.

“Perhaps if we just had an instrumental song then- Ouch!” Nagisa yelps, his disrespectful comment is cut off by a clean flick to the forehead from Rin, who scowls down at him. He shakes his head by looking back up at Makoto.

“Maybe you could send us some recordings of it?” Rin suggests. Makoto immediately feels himself go a little lightheaded. “We could listen to it again and again, and perhaps try and add our own parts to it?” Rin says with a wide smile, he looks like he likes the idea of it himself. Makoto smiles weakly.

“I can try to, but Nagisa, I’ll need your number.” Makoto says, turning to face Nagisa with a warm smile. Nagisa’s face lights up in happiness. Nobody has asked for his number at this school yet.

“That’s a good idea, too. We should all exchange numbers.” Rin nods. Nagisa practically bounces on the spot before leaping for his blazer to fetch his phone out of it, Rin watches him before doing the same, as does Makoto.

Haruka doesn’t move, instead he sits in silence for a moment before playing something quietly on his guitar again. Makoto or Rin can give Nagisa his number. He tries to focus on remembering how Makoto’s song went, without thinking of the lyrics, and plays to the best of his ability.

\---

Nagisa boards the train alone that afternoon, he catches his train on time, unfortunately it’s absolutely packed with other students, but he manages to find a seat nonetheless. He carries with him in a spare bag his now deflated instruments, posters, and a batch of sign-up sheets, none of which have been filled.

In a way, it’s been a rather disappointing day, but at the same time it hasn’t. He managed to find somebody who could potentially be part of their club, and could compose songs for them. Maybe perhaps even write them, lyrics better than Makoto’s romantic goop.

With that in mind, he smiles confidently to himself. He has a new mission. First things first, he wants to find out if Ryugazaki is completely 100% the material they need. Is he a good composer? He looked smart, wether it be his glasses giving him that look or just his straight face. Nagisa thinks to himself. Tomorrow he’s going to find the choir club’s room, and have a little listen for himself. Still with his confident smile spread across his face, he looks up in hope.

And his eyes meet the turned cheek of the objective himself. Ryugazaki stands beside him, holding on to one of the rails, looking straight out of the window. Nagisa’s eyes glisten for a moment, before building himself up a little.

“You get this train too, Ryugazaki-kun?” Nagisa asks, still smiling brightly. He watches as Ryugazaki himself winces and scowls out of the window.

“Was it not obvious enough?” He replies coldly, refusing to look at him. Nagisa frowns a little before taking it as a joke.

“Heheh, so, have you-”

“I'm guessing by the fact that you have a bag full of inflatables, posters and sign up sheets, you're going to ask me to join your club again.” He says right off the bat.

“Woah! How did you know?” Nagisa gasps a little, sitting up straight and looking up at him in wonder.

“I've told you once and I won't tell you again. I am not interested in joining your club. I'm already a part of the chorus club, and that's where I'm staying.” Ryugazaki says, looking mildly annoyed. He doesn't make any eye contact at all with Nagisa as the train halts to a stop, the doors slide open, and he hops off with a small; “Good day.”

Nagisa watches him leave with a small pout, and before the door closes, he watches as Ryugazaki breaks out into a quick jog alongside the train. Nagisa gasps again, sitting up and turning to look out of the window properly, ignoring the confused noises of the passengers besides him.

“And he keeps fit, too!” He exclaims, watching as the train surpasses Ryugazaki, though he still manages to see him running alongside slightly.

Nagisa thinks for a moment. He should probably start keeping fit, too. Sure, playing the drums is a great way of exercising, but at the same time, you're still just sitting down. The arms are pretty much the only thing you're training. Well, your foot, too. Perhaps, he could start running like Ryugazaki.

He then turns back around in his seat with a brilliant idea. Tomorrow, he'll try to befriend Ryugazaki, and run with him.

\---

“I'll see you later…” Haruka’s farewell is the same as ever, short, curt and with a small frown. Haruka isn’t one to enjoy being alone all the time. For the most part, it’s quite lonely. Despite that, he gets a lot of time to himself, to relax, to play his music, his guitar, to do what he wants.

He hates it at times.

Makoto and Rin wave him off from the bottom of the steps as usual, each with their own goodbye, before turning and walking the rest of their way home.

“I’ll never be over the fact that he joined the club of his own accord.” Rin comments as soon as Haruka is out of their sights. Makoto nods with a small chuckle.

“Yeah, but then again, don’t you think part of it was our help, too?” Makoto replies, looking down at Rin with a slight smile. “I mean, I don’t think he would be there if it weren’t for last Saturday.”

Rin’s face lights up as if he himself has also realised this, before turning back to Makoto with a brilliant smile.

“You’re right.” Rin smiles confidently. “And anyway, speaking of the club, there’s something that’s been nagging at me…”

Makoto’s own smile fades and is replaced with a tight-lined frown. Rin takes Makoto’s silence as the go-ahead to carry on.

“That song you wrote,” Rin begins. Makoto inwardly gulps. He instantly knows what’s gonna come next. “You were telling the truth, right? There’s no real meaning behind it? You just made it up?”

Makoto looks a little overthrown with all of the questions, but it was what he was expecting.

“Yeah. I honestly looked up on the internet, and they suggested the easiest song to write is a love song, you can relate almost anything to love.” Makoto says happily, giving him a small smile again, in hopes of ending the conversation. But it doesn’t end the conversation. Instead, Rin slowly breaks out into a small smirk.

“You’re sure about that?” Rin side-eyes him, still wearing his smirk. “I mean, it did sound a little personal to me. I’m no idiot, Makoto.” He continues, trying not to crack and laugh. Makoto inwardly feels a little anxious, but then again, he is _‘sure’_ about that.

“Of course I’m sure.” Makoto nods, he can’t help the saddened look that appears on his face. “I made it up, one-hundred percent.”

“Oh, _come on_ , Makoto.” Rin half whines, turning a little to look up at the taller with a wide grin. He knows that it’s a joke, and he trusts Makoto, of course. It’s just a little joke around. “You’re not fooling me. I won’t tell anybody.”

“Rin, I’m being totally honest, I’m not-”

“I know, I know, I’m just joking around.” Rin waves him off with a small laugh. Makoto laughs too, trying his best not to make it sound nervous. “I trust you Makoto, and really, you’re the most honest person I know.” He shrugs, looking back ahead of him, still smiling. “I really like that song you wrote, and you should just ignore Nagisa’s comments. He hasn’t written anything yet, and neither have me and Haru. So we all admire you for that.”

Makoto blushes slightly at Rin’s praise. He smiles widely, reaching up to itch at his cheek again.

“Thank you, Rin.” Makoto replies. He really is grateful, both for Rin’s comments, and Rin himself. “I’m gonna try and write some more, if I can.” He nods.

“That’s great!” Rin exclaims. “I’m gonna try too. There’s gotta be something in my life I can write about.”

“Besides, you’re probably more knowledgeable when it comes to romance more than I am.” Makoto laughs, making his own little jab at Rin, who freezes for a second before scowling up at Makoto.

“ _Hey!_ I’ll have you know you’ve got your own little love letter right there in your pocket.” Rin argues back, but his face softens when he sees Makoto’s eyes widen slightly at the words ‘love letter’. Does he really believe him? Rin clears his throat, looking up ahead again. “And hey… I bet you can woo any girl you want with a song you write about ‘em.”

“Girl?” Makoto says on instinct. Rin pauses.

Makoto immediately shivers physically. His eyes shrink, and his lips form a tight line again. He looks at Rin for what feels like forever before looking down at the floor in a flash, face slowly becoming red, and speed-walks ahead. Oh no. Oh _dear God_ , _no_...

...Did he just out himself to Rin?

Rin watches confusedly as Makoto walks on ahead. He raises one eyebrow. “Yeah… Why wou-” He pauses dramatically as he too realises what he’s done. Oh… Now he feels bad. Rin winces as he looks up and sees Makoto, he’s stopped walking, but his back is literally _shaking_. Rin jogs up to him, and places a hand on his back. He feels Makoto shiver under his touch, and winces even more.

“Hey, hey.” Rin says soothingly, rubbing his hand up and down. He tries to comfort him as best he can. “Makoto, it’s okay. I won’t tell anybody.” He says, but he doesn’t see Makoto’s reaction, as his wobbling hands are covering his face. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to make you say anything.”

“I know you didn’t…” Makoto squeaks out, moving one of his hands, and slowly, the other. He waits another moment before chewing the inside of his lip, and finally looks Rin in the eye. Rin smiles approvingly up at him, calming him down a little.

“I’ll keep it between you and me. I promise.” Rin says softly, and his smile softens, too. “Have you told anybody else?”

Makoto shakes his head.

“No… My parents don’t know, and neither does Haru. You’re the first now…” He mumbles. Rin nods slowly, rubbing Makoto’s back, which now isn’t shaking as violently, once more before finally dropping his hand. “I… I can’t tell them.” He mumbles again, turning his head, to look away from Rin. “As much as I trust them, I’m a little scared.”

Makoto finally lets out that nervous laugh he was keeping in from earlier.

Rin frowns for him. To be fair, he never expected this to come from Makoto. He accepts him of course. Why wouldn’t he? He’s always appreciated homosexuals, and has never had anything against them. There was even a homosexual member in his father’s band, who was always laughing, always smiling.

“You’ll find the courage to one day, Makoto. Don’t you worry.” Rin nods again. “You’re still one of my best friends, and I won’t think of you any differently.” Rin watches as Makoto lifts his head, and turns to face Rin again.

“Thank you, Rin.” Makoto says, finally regaining his smile.

Perhaps Rin is right.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rin and makoto are blessings ok i will protect them with my every fibre
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! and I super suPER PROMISE chapter 15 will be here in the next few days.
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions on my blog! 
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	15. Leave An Impression

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sousuke decides enough is enough. He should probably get to know Rin's friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [PLEASE READ](http://karumello.tumblr.com/post/145908256762/ebimc-chapter-15-will-be-up-tonight-under-the-cut)
> 
> Reading this should hopefully explain why I've been lacking so much recently. All I can say for now is that I will be frequently updating from now on.
> 
> Enjoy this chapter, and thanks to those who are patient with me in this time :)

It takes Makoto a couple of recordings to get through the entire song without messing it up. 

The first time he made far too many slip ups, the second time his phone fell off of the keyboard, and the third time his little brother burst into the room. He plugs in his earphones and listens to the fourth recording himself a few times before sending it to Rin, Nagisa and Haruka. He doesn’t have many contacts on his phone.

He watches until they’re all sent, before putting his phone down and laying back against his bed. Sitting on his wooden floor isn’t the most comfortable thing to do, but he’s a little tired to move. 

Makoto closes his eyes slowly, and lets out a small sigh. He’s glad he’s done it now, but today he really,  _ really _ didn’t want to out himself to anybody, let alone Rin. Although he was pretty supportive, it was still a little stressful; he would have rather just told him comfortably and properly in private. Makoto knows that Rin won’t tell anybody, or comment on it again. Rin is a trustworthy person, and wouldn’t let his friends down like that.

Now all he needs to do is tell everybody else, at his own leisure. Telling his parents is where he should start. He does feel bad about not telling Haruka. Actually, he’ll tell Haruka first, he won’t say anything, in fact, he highly doubts Haruka will say anything at al, so telling him won't be so hard.

All he needs now, is for Rin to not use his romantic knowledge and put two and two together. He needs to shape up the way he acts around his little crush. Well, he isn't so little. And he doubts  _ he  _ isn't so little, too. 

Makoto’s eyes snap open. He did  _ not  _ just think about that. He shakes his head, and literally  _ slaps _ himself. It’s getting a little late. He should probably take his shower and head to bed.

Another cold shower.

On the other side, Rin sits on his bed, fiddling about on his guitar. When his phone goes off, he sits in confusion for a moment, and his playing stops. From a distance, he can see Makoto’s name glowing on his screen. Makoto. He must be wanting to talk to him about earlier today…

Speaking of which, it’s kinda hard to admit he isn’t jealous of Makoto’s writing skills. How has he managed to pull two songs out of the bag already? Fair enough, they aren’t finished, but still… And even though he may be the only other member of the club that liked them, he still thinks Makoto has the possibility of being their lyricist. Until he comes up with his own, which has to  _ blow _ Makoto’s songs out of the water.

Rin puts down his guitar on the stand next to his bed, and leans down to grab his phone, sliding the notification across and opening the message. It isn't about what happened today, it's the MP3 of the song he played for them. For some reason, he’s a little relieved. 

He wonders… What if Makoto was lying to them the whole time? What if Makoto actually had someone in mind when he wrote the songs? No, Makoto wouldn’t lie to him… He told him earlier he was a trustworthy person.

But still, if Makoto did have a thing for somebody, who would it be? It’s clearly not himself or Haruka, as he would have made the move a long time ago… Or would he have? Perhaps he met someone from middle school that he doesn’t know of, and he’s had feelings for him ever since they left? Maybe that’s what the lyrics were about… But then again, the lyrics he saw didn’t give him that feel.

They gave him the feel that Makoto was secretly longing after somebody… Somebody, he just can’t place a finger on who. There’s the possibility that it could be Nagisa, since Makoto has been permanently nice to him ever since he’s met him, but that’s just who Makoto is, a genuinely nice guy. Sousuke isn’t even an option because-

_ No, Rin. You were told he wasn’t even thinking about anybody, he made it up, and he wouldn’t lie to you. _

Rin grabs his earphones from his bedside table and plugs them into his phone, and begins the download on the file that Makoto has sent him. 

\---

Nagisa wakes up the next morning with a mission on his mind. Today, he’s going to persuade Ryugazaki to leave his club, and join theirs. He dresses himself quickly, eats his breakfast quickly, and soars out of the door, in hopes of catching the same early train that Ryugazaki may be on. His parents yell at him for his rushing around, but he ignores them nonetheless.

He jogs from his house to the train station, train pass in hand. He reaches the station in a matter of minutes, but it’s completely empty. He’s the only one there. It isn’t too early, is it? Nagisa looks up at the nearest clock, which tells him he’s fifteen minutes earlier than he usually is. So, Ryugazaki must live further than here… Or closer?

The train arrives literally minutes upon his arrival, he boards using his pass, and looks around the train for blue hair. But he doesn’t see him, anywhere. Nagisa takes his usual seat towards the front of the train besides the window, and looks out of said window for the same person. He passes the next couple of stops, and there isn’t a sign of him. The school is in five or so stops, so he has to board soon.

Nagisa squints his eyes when he sees somebody jogging up ahead. He kneels in his seat to get a better look at them. They wear a black and white sports jacket and Nagisa knows he’s hit the head on the nail when he sees that familiar lime green backpack. He must be running to catch this train. Nagisa thinks to himself of how to start the conversation in his head as they approach the next stop. The train passes him however, and he doesn’t run to catch up.

Huh. He must run to school every morning. Perhaps tomorrow he’ll run with him…

When the train stops, Nagisa makes sure he’s the last off of the train in order to give Ryugazaki that last little bit of time to catch up with the train. But it’s pretty pointless, since when he does get his feet back on the ground, Ryugazaki is nowhere in sight. 

However, the school grounds are flooded with students. Some of them hold large signs, posters actually, some are dressed in specific uniforms, and some are dressed in uniform. Nagisa walks through his school yard, looking around at the variety of students around him. It takes him a moment to realise why they’re all there, because he hears them calling out to other people to join their clubs.

“Hello! Would you like to join the Tennis Club?” A taller boy comes up to him, holding out a sheet of paper. Nagisa looks up to him a little confused. Was this meant to be a thing that all clubs do?

“No thank you, I’m already a part of the Music club!” Nagisa replies, shaking his head politely. The boy in front of him tilts his head, he frowns down at Nagisa and raises an eyebrow once Nagisa doesn’t say anything.

“Music club?” He says, his voice is a little nasally, but despite that, he sounds mildly muddled. “Don’t you mean the chorus club?”

This time, it’s Nagisa’s turn to wear the opposite expression. He doesn’t know about the Music club? Nagisa was sure he spoke to at least half of the school yesterday. 

“No, I mean the Music club! There aren’t many members, but we’re accepting members, too!” Nagisa chirps, nodding up at the upperclassmen. He in return cocks his head to the side.

“I’ve never heard of it…” He mumbles.

“Really? Well, even the great Matsuoka Rin is a part of the club! In fact, he’s even our-”

“Oh.” The tennis club member spits. His expression hardens, frown deepening, eyebrows lowering over his eyes. Nagisa doesn’t see this, however. “Good luck.” Is all he says, before turning around on his heel and marching back to his little group.

“Ah, thank you!” Nagisa nods with a smile, waving him off. He bounces happily back to his class, 1-1, with another idea in mind. He and the rest of the music club should advertise their club in public. 

On the way back to his homeroom, he sees a familiar boy putting up posters outside in the hallway.

“Mako-chan!” Nagisa calls out, catching the older boy’s attention, scaring him a little bit. Makoto almost drops the pins he holds in his hand, and turns around to the voice that called for him. Makoto warmly smiles at Nagisa when he sees him.

“Good morning, Nagisa.” Makoto says softly. He pauses from pinning up the posters he holds in his opposite hand and turns to face Nagisa.

“Hmm? Are you putting up the posters for our club?” Nagisa asks stupidly, as he can clearly see that that  _ is _ what Makoto is doing. “Haru-chan can really draw, huh?” 

“Yes, Haru has quite a few talents.” Makoto nods, as it is true. Makoto tells himself that he’s merely skilled at playing the piano, whereas Haruka has many talents. He can draw, he can cook, and he even self-taught himself how to play the guitar like a professional. He isn’t jealous.

“Oh, oh, Mako-chan! Did you see the clubs outside?” Nagisa asks, bouncing on the spot for a moment. Makoto shakes his head. “Well, some of the clubs are outside promoting their club and getting members! Don’t you think our club should do that?” 

Makoto looks a little puzzled for a moment, his mouth lingers open slightly. He didn’t see any of them this morning.

“That could be a good idea… Now that I’ve put up the majority of the posters, people will start to see them and maybe have interest. We can suggest it to Rin later, right?” Makoto says, with a hopeful smile on his face. Nagisa nods enthusiastically. “So, any luck with Ryugazaki since yesterday?”

“Well, I saw him yesterday on the train, but he still didn’t seem interested… I’m gonna convince him by the end of the day though, I promised myself!” Nagisa nods enthusiastically, clenching his fists.

“Don’t you think you should let him make up his own mind? Doing things by force is bad…” Makoto mumbles, pouting a little at Nagisa, in hopes he understands his small scolding.

“But  _ Mako-chaaaan _ , he’s perfect!” Nagisa whines. Makoto sighs quietly, shaking his head and turning back to pin up the last of the posters. “I’ll see you in club, right?”

“Right!” Makoto smiles faintly, and listens to the sounds of Nagisa’s footsteps disappearing down the hallway before sighing to himself.  Makoto offered to go around the school and hang up the posters this morning in order to get a little time to himself to clear his head.

He had _another_ one of those dreams last night. And he needs a little time away from a certain someone.

It wasn’t that much different than the last time, but Makoto swears he felt his touch. He closes his eyes, and pushes in the pin with aggravation. His eyes snap open when he hears a strange  _ crunch _ sound. Oh. He’s managed to push the pin through somebody else’s poster, and torn it abit. A few other students stand around him looking a little puzzled. With slight shock, Makoto takes out the pin, and correctly pins the last poster. 

He exits the scene with a small blush and finally makes his way back to his classroom. Upon arriving there, Makoto is met with the quick glances of his classmates, but a longer glance from his friends, who sit in the corner. He walks over to them quickly, taking his seat, in front of Sousuke.

Who watches him. Great. The last time Makoto saw him was in his head last night

“Good morning.” Makoto greets him personally, but manages to catch the attention of Rin and Haruka, who pause from their conversation.

“Morning.” They chime, and Sousuke nods silently but politely at him.

“Good morning.” Sousuke then greets him back by himself, seeing as Rin and Haruka have gone back into their little discussion. They’re talking about their instruments of course.

“Makoto, what do you think? Does a guitar need cleaning every night or once in awhile?” Rin says suddenly, leaning forward on his chair, which is currently at Haruka’s desk. They must be discussing Haruka’s freakish cleaning antics.

“Well, it depends.” Makoto replies with a nervous smile. “Haru plays his guitar a lot, so it probably does need to be cleaned a lot.” He says. Haruka nods in silent agreement. “But if you don’t play it as much, say, a couple times a week, then you should clean it every so often…”

“I see where you’re coming from, and I agree, but is it really necessary to change the strings, too?” Rin replies, looking between the two.

“Yes. Your hands have been all over them, and-”

“Well then just wash your hands?” Rin cuts Haruka off, who frowns at him. “Besides, we’ll be playing our instruments every day from now in the club, so they’ll need regular cleaning.”

“You’re wasting money by using up your cleaning equipment too quickly.” Sousuke butts in. Haruka looks off to the side, silently defeated. Sousuke is right, but to be fair, he shouldn’t have a say in this. Rin huffs amusedly.

“Makoto, I got your song last night, and I made a little something up for it last night, but it changes it a little bit…” Rin then says, looking down at his phone. “Is that okay?”

“That’s great, Rin!” Makoto nods.”I don’t mind if you change it up, I mean, I don’t want to take up all the credit, right?” He says, tilting his head. Rin nods.

“So, you write the music?” Sousuke asks him. Makoto wasn’t expecting him too, so he turns to Sousuke a little slowly.

“Yeah.” He says, giving him a little smile. Sousuke wears a neutral expression.

“He writes the lyrics, too.” Haruka adds. Makoto inwardly gulps at this. He prays that Sousuke doesn’t ask to see them, otherwise he’s dead for sure.

“Well, we haven’t written any yet, but Makoto has written a couple!” Rin says, saving Makoto a little but also embarrassing him with praise.

Sousuke looks Makoto in the eye and shrugs lightly. 

“Nice.” He says solemnly. He reaches us at itches at the back of his neck. “A good addition to your band, then.”

Makoto tries his best to hide his blush, and tries even harder not to make a scene out of this. Rin is near them, and he knows about his sexuality now.

“Thank you, Sousuke.” Makoto smiles brightly at him. “I wouldn’t really say that myself, but... I try my best to make everyone happy.”

“Ahh, you haven’t changed one bit, Makoto.” Rin sighs happily, laying his head down on Haruka’s desk much to Haruka’s dismay. This time, Makoto passes that off for the reason for his blush.

“Ahaha…” Makoto laughs awkwardly, this time, he scratches at his cheeks and looks down at his desk.

Sousuke watches his movements. He doesn’t really want to admit it, but Makoto is kinda cute. A lot of people probably think that, so he doesn’t think about it much. Sousuke thinks to himself a little longer as he watches the rest of the group converse. He should really get to know Rin’s friends a little more. Haruka is proving to be a bit of a struggle, but Makoto seems like a genuinely nice guy.

\---

Once their last lesson is over, Rin and Haruka head on up to the club room anticipatingly, Makoto doesn’t follow, as he’s decided to cover for one of his classmate’s cleaning duties, since they were absent today. He doesn’t mind that he’s missing club time, it gives his band mates a little more time to practice what they’ve made up for his song.

Makoto mops the floor with disinterest, watching as the wet rag rhythmically sweeps over his reflection, almost as if he were cleaning himself. Cleaning himself of those thoughts and dreams he’s been having. His reflection stares back at him with subdued eyes, before a wave of self-consciousness washes over him, snapping him out of his daze.

A low creaking sound emerges from behind him, followed by a couple of dull footsteps. Makoto freezes in his place. Those footsteps sounded a little odd... They pass the room completely, echoign down the hallways behind him until they're gone, and suddenly, he hears them coming back towards the room.

Teal-coloured eyes poke around the door frame, watching the smaller boy mop the floor quietly. He watches him for a short moment before clearing his throat. The teen slowly lifts his head.

"Hey." Sousuke speaks softly. Despite making his presence known a minute ago, the smaller of the two still jumps slightly at the sound of his voice. He looks over his shoulder shyly, his mouth turning upwards into a small smile when he notices the figure standing at the door.

"Hello." He says with a smile, turning around fully to face him. Sousuke looks around the room for a moment. It doesn’t look too dirty. He should probably get home to Chouko, but at the same time...

"Need any help?" He offers, stepping into the classroom and closing the door behind him. This could be his chance to get to know him a little.

"Oh, no no. It's my turn to clean today, I'll be okay on my own. But thank you for the offer!" Makoto replies, picking up the mop again. He dips it into the soapy water, twirling it and wringing it out, silently praying that Sousuke accepts his reply and turns around. The last thing he needs is to be alone with Sousuke right now.

Sousuke shakes his head. Makoto is far too kind for his own good. 

"You're too nice." Sousuke says, voicing his thoughts. He walks over to the stock cupboard and retrieves another mop. The smaller watches him in awe as Sousuke does the same with his mop, twirling the white rag in the bucket, looking up at him when he doesn't make a sound. The last time he was this close to him was when he crashed into him the other day. God, he’s such a mess...

"Oh... Um..." Makoto starts quietly, looking down at the water as he twiddles the wooden pole in his hands. "Thank you..."

Sousuke gives him a small nod in return, pulling the mop out from the bucket, wringing it and beginning to clean the floors, Makoto follows his actions soon after.

It's pretty quiet from then on, nothing but the sound of the wet rags gliding against the wooden floors ringing throughout the room. The green-eyed boy knows he's far too shy around Sousuke to even make small conversation with him. It's clear in his reflection in the shining wet floors. He wishes there was a radio in here, anything just to fill the silence.

Even Sousuke himself is starting to think this is a bad idea.

"So..." Sousuke asks after a short silence, spiking Makoto's attention. "You play anything in the Music club? Or just serve beverages like their butler or something?" He says, despite already knowing the answer. Rin told him the other day. Makoto shakes his head, chuckling lightly. He knows that Sousuke knows too. He’s probably re-asking to make conversation. Or maybe he really did forget...

"I play the keyboard." He replies, rather timidly. 

"Keyboard, huh? So you play the piano too?" Sousuke asks, walking over to the bucket, being careful not to slip on the wet floor. Makoto watches him, biting the inside of his lip. Sousuke glares to himself, back turned to Makoto.  _ Dumbass. Of course he plays the piano. _

"Mmhmm." He hums. "I've been playing the piano since I was seven." 

Sousuke stands, taking a break from mopping the floors to do the math in his head.

" _Ten years_? That's amazing..."  Sousuke says, almost dropping the mop in amazement.

"Thank you..." Makoto replies, chewing his bottom lip. Sousuke nods his head at him.

"You must be really good then. Besides, you look like a piano kind of person."

"Huh?" Makoto lifts his head, unnecessarily gulping.

"You look like a piano kind of person.  In every sense of the word; Soft and gentle."

Makoto stares at him, his mouth lingering open slightly. He can feel his face slowly beginning to heat up in embarrassment again. He honestly wasn’t expecting or wanting all of these comments from Sousuke today.

"Oh..." He says quietly, suddenly regaining interest in the bucket full of now-dirty water. The taller of the two watches the other quietly, before looking down at the floor.

Sousuke glowers at himself again, looking at his own reflection. Why is he saying all of these things to him? He doesn’t wanna immediately be all buddy-buddy with him. Perhaps he’s just… Feeling nice, today.

Makoto turns to mop at the floor, a part that has already been cleaned, trying to fight the urge to laugh at Sousuke’s sudden shyness. The two feel a sense of awkwardness as they mop the remaining spots in the room, Sousuke pausing every now and then to wipe at the small beads of sweat that pepper his forehead.

"So, um..." Makoto begins, lifting up his head. His eyes widen at the sight before him.

He looks like something from a dream.

Sousuke runs a hand through his dark hair, the orange burst of sunlight behind him shines down on him like an angel. His shirt is tight around his chest, the outline of his muscles poking through, toned arms hold the wooden pole like a sword in stone. Stunning teal orbs slowly reveal themselves through dark lashes, looking directly at the boy standing in front of him. In the light, Makoto gets a good look at the strong features of his face. His thin lips curl up slightly before opening.

"Yeah?" He says, and Makoto swears he hears a purr in his voice. The boy stands stunned for a short moment, before involuntarily shaking his head. He's got it bad. 

_ Pull it together. How long has he been staring at him for? _

"Uh..." Makoto pauses for a brief moment, hearing his own voice quiver slightly. "Do you... play anything?" 

Almost as if he's caught on to the other’s actions, Sousuke looks at Makoto oddly for a second. All he did was turn around. Makoto gulps unnecessarily.

"Nah," He shakes his head before quickly licking his lips. "Well…” He adds, pausing and creating a small suspense. “I used to play the bass when I was younger, but I stopped.”

Makoto pauses for a moment. So Sousuke can play a bass? That’s… Exactly what the Music club needs!

“Ah, well, our club has been looking for a bassi-”

“I’m not doing it.” Sousuke cuts him off, grasping the wooden handle of the mop tightly in his hand. Makoto looks up at him a little frightened. How he can go from attractive to scary is a little scary in itself. Before he can say anything else, Sousuke opens his mouth again. “I’ve already explained to Rin, so don’t ask me.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.” Makoto says, looking back into the bucket. That reminds him. Rin told him he didn’t play anything. So who’s lying to him? In this moment, he trusts Rin more. Is Sousuke just saying this to… Sound cool? He chuckles to himself at the thought.

“What are you laughing at?” Sousuke looks up at him with a small glower. Makoto doesn’t take any offence, but he’s a little caught in headlights.

“Nothing, I’m just thinking of something from earlier.” Makoto tilts his head with a small smile. Sousuke decides to drop it, but he still half glares at Makoto.

“Better had be…” He mutters, earning another small laugh from Makoto. This guy… He’s nice, incredibly nice, maybe a little too much for Sousuke’s liking, but at least he isn’t spewing snarky comments like Rin would. “So, what inspired you to play the keyboard?”

Makoto hums for a moment. He places a finger to his lips before giving a small shrug.

“I guess I just really liked the sound of it…” Makoto replies. Sousuke nods slowly.

“I take it you like classical music, then?” Sousuke asks, wringing out his mop again. He’s a little confused by Makoto’s reaction. He makes a small nervous laugh before looking away.

“N-not really.” He says quietly, still refusing to make eye contact with Sousuke. “To be fair, I’d say I’m more interested in the opposite…” Makoto finishes, even though what he just said isn’t completely true in most situations.

_ Why is he thinking about that now? _   
  
“So, the opposite of classical, huh? Like… Rock and stuff?” Sousuke asks a little carefully, watching for an expression that signals something on his face, but Makoto still wears that little awkward smile. “What’s your favourite genre of music?”

“Well… If I’m being honest, my favourite has to be…” Makoto begins, looking off to the floor, and feeling his blush deepen. “...Metal.” He almost whispers.

“Metal?” Sousuke repeats, loudly out of surprise. “You like metal?” He says again, blinking slowly when Makoto nods and gives him another small laugh. “I never expected somebody like you to like that…” Sousuke leads off.

Makoto looks up to him with a soft expression. He hums, in curiosity. Sousuke never expected him to like metal? Well, he did say that he took him for a ‘piano’ kind of person...

“Perhaps you’re not so soft and gentle after all.” Sousuke says with a tiny hint of a smirk.

Makoto doesn't have a reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *80s porno music*
> 
> jokes it isnt time for that
> 
> yet ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions on my blog! 
> 
> also can i take this moment to apologise for sousuke's poor, just poor choices for replies jesus h. christ


	16. Friendship?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagisa has to do his best to make a start on getting things together, as does Sousuke.
> 
> honestly these summary things and chapter titles are not my forte as you can see

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *trumpet fanfare*
> 
> yAHOO
> 
> Before anything, can I just say how happy all of your sweet comments made me? They honestly all pushed me to produce this chapter at this speed. Honestly, when I see the little notification in my emails to tell me that one of you lovelies have commented, it makes me so happy!
> 
> So please continue to do so!
> 
> With that, enjoy this chapter!

He can’t believe his eyes. Or should he say his ears? What he’s hearing at the moment is stunning, moving, and most of all, beautiful.

Nagisa stands on his tip toes, backed up against a wall in the hallways of Iwatobi High, looking into the windows of the school’s auditorium, which appears to be the Chorus club’s club room. How they were that lucky to bag the biggest room in the school is beyond him.

He listens for a moment longer, before coming up closer to the window in the auditorium door, looking out for Ryugazaki in particular. At first, he sees a line of students singing in unison, each in their own tone. The sound they make is happy, and makes Nagisa feel totally relaxed. Ryugazaki isn’t there, however. Does he not sing?

And then he spots him -- Sat to the side next to the young girl playing the piano softly beneath their voices. Two other boys, wearing green ties, sit to his side. They must be composers, too. Ryuugazaki sits in a chair, bobbing his head to the beat, with his eyes closed. Just like Haruka would. Nagisa watches him intently with interest. Did he compose all of this?

Suddenly, he stands up straight in a flash, alerting the other composers and the singers, and walks over to be in front of them and opens up a small book that he holds in his hand. He talks to them pretty assertively, judging by the looks on the singers’ faces. He can’t see his face, but all Nagisa hears from Ryugazaki himself is a slight murmur. The others nod at him, and he goes back to his seat. One of the upperclassmen turn to him as soon as he sits down with an uneasy look on his face.

To be honest, he doesn’t look too happy in this club.

“Wait, Rei-san?” Nagisa manages to hear one of the singers. He looks into the window, and sees Ryugazaki turning his head to face the girl who called him out.

Rei? His name is Rei? That’s… Feminine! Right? If that’s right, then he fits in with the Music club perfectly! They all have feminine names, himself, Rin, Haruka and Makoto. 

Nagisa gasps and makes an excited noise when they begin to sing again. Maybe Rei can sing like that… But then again, if he could, wouldn’t he be singing with them? He did say he was a composer...

Anyway, he should probably get out of here before anybody catches him, and he doesn’t wanna look too creepy. Nagisa happily makes his way out of the school and down towards the train station, where he’ll wait for Rei, so that he can talk to him properly about the club. 

If Rei can control a group of people in a way that they can all learn from him, and if he composed that music especially, then he would be a great help and addition to the Music club.

The weather isn’t so bad when he reaches the outside of the school grounds. The sun sets peacefully as he walks through the yard, and down towards the station.

Nagisa wonders for a minute. Could _he_ write a song for the club? It musn't be that hard. And definitely _not_ a love song. He ponders for a moment, looking up to the warm orange stained sky, before remembering that he has a carton of strawberry milk in his bag. He takes off his backpack, and sets it on his knee, opens it and reaches in to rummage around for his favourite drink.

He pulls it out with a small happy hum, pokes the straw through the film and drinks it with a smile. Ah, refreshing.

As well as the sound of the straw sucking up the last of the milk, he hears the sound of a train in the distance. Nagisa looks up, pulling the straw out of his mouth, and smiles, both because of the fact that the train is nearing, but also because he sees Rei himself, walking towards the platform, holding a book in his hand that he reads.

Nagisa stands up, fishing around in his pocket for his train pass. He finds it, takes it out and has it ready in his hand. He’ll wait for Rei to get off the train before starting on anything. Trains are loud, and they won’t be able to properly converse. He stands back, making sure that Rei is first to board the train, so that he’s out of his sight, he can surprise him that way.

Rei boards before him, taking his seat towards the back of the train. He sits down, and takes out his phone and earphones from his inside pocket. Nagisa thinks he’s seen Haruka do this before. Rei plugs in his earphones, fiddles about on his phone for a second before pocketing it, and looking out of the window. Nagisa watches him, mildly interested.

Rei draws his attention away from the window to look around the train for a second. He looks around, and his eyes freeze on Nagisa. Nagisa beams up at him, hoping that the other boy’s attention stays at him, but it doesn’t work. Ryugazaki half-glowers at him before quickly turning his head back to face the windows.

Nagisa remembers in his head which stop Rei gets off at. It may sound a little stalker-ish, but it’s important. As they near said stop, Nagisa watches with building confidence as Rei takes out his earphones, gets up from his seat, and heads toward the front of the train. He doesn’t look Nagisa in the eye, but the smaller of the two silently follows him.

The train stops, and Rei hops off, followed by Nagisa. Luckily, they’re the only students that get off at this stop.

“Rei-chan! Wait!” Nagisa calls out, making the other stop in his tracks. He was literally about to break out into his run. Rei slowly looks over his shoulder and frowns again when he sees Nagisa’s smile looking back at him. 

“Rei-chan?” He says, a little sour. He raises an eyebrow at him, sulking down at him. “How do you know my name?”

“Oh, I think I saw it on one of your books in class.” Nagisa admits with a happy smile, despite it being a lie.

“...What do you want?” Rei says, his voice is full of impatience. He lowers his eyebrows behind his glasses.

“I want to run with you! Is that okay?” Nagisa asks cutely with a tilt of his head. Rei looks at him a little lost for a moment before shrugging and turning back around, getting ready to run again. 

“If you can keep up.” He says, finally breaking out into a slow jog. Nagisa’s eyes light up, and he lets out a small giggle before jogging after him, slightly behind.

They jog out of the train station in silence, each of them keeping a respectable distance between them. Nagisa thinks of something to start the conversation in his head as they jog up the stairs up into the field.

“What exactly is it that you want from me?” The taller boy in front of him asks, making Nagisa lift his head happily.

“What I want from you? I want you to join the Music club, of course.” Nagisa replies pretty simply. Well, he may think of it as simple, but Rei doesn’t. He glares at the space ahead of him.

“But why me? What I do isn’t close to anything you’re expecting of me.” He replies, a little annoyed. 

“Huh? But you compose music, meaning you write it. In the music club, we write our own songs and play them ourselves. Doesn’t that sound fun to you?” Nagisa says, pleading a little.

Rei tuts, and looks off to the distance. He doesn’t want to get narky with him, but he’s starting to get close to it. This guy just doesn’t understand.

“You’re still not explaining anything. I’m sure there are other people in our school that compose. Why do you want me?” Rei says, and this time Nagisa can truly detect the harshness in his voice. Perhaps he should just tell him the truth.

“Well, I think your music is beautiful.” Nagisa admits, smiling up at the back of his head, which stops bouncing. Rei stops in his tracks and lets Nagisa run ahead a bit.

“Beautiful?” Rei says softly, before shaking his head. “You’re just saying that. You haven’t heard anything I’ve composed.”

“Did you compose what those other students were singing before? That happy song?” Nagisa says, tilting his head with a small pout.

“...How do you know about that?” Rei replies, glaring at him, looking a little confused himself. 

“Well… I passed by your club on my way out.” Nagisa admits, reaching up to itch at his cheek with an innocent look spread across his face. Rei doesn’t look too pleased, but he’s still frowning a little.

“I see... “ He mutters. “You really think it was beautiful?”

“Yeah! It made me feel so cool! And happy!” Nagisa nods enthusiastically. Rei takes a moment to consider Nagisa’s answer. Could he be making this up?

“...I don’t need to hear that from you.” He says suddenly, closing his eyes and walking ahead of Nagisa, before breaking out into a jog again. Nagisa pouts. He thought he had him for a moment, there. “There’s nothing you can say or do to make me join your club.”

“But… Why? Won’t you even come and see us?” Nagisa asks, whining a little. He sees Rei speeding up a little in his jog.

“Why should I? I don’t want to be a part of your… Music club.” Rei replies, not bothering to look back at Nagisa. He turns a corner, one that Nagisa doesn’t particularly go down, but he can still take the route.

“I really think you should. I think you and Haru-chan would get along.” Nagisa admits, regaining his small smile as he follows Rei around the turn.

“Haru-chan? Is he your composer?” Rei asks, looking up ahead as he jogs. Why hasn’t this guy ran out of breath yet?

“No, he’s our guitarist! Along with Rin-chan, oh, oh! You’ve gotta hear about Rin-chan!” Nagisa exclaims. That could totally pull him in! All celebrities do, right?

“Rin-chan? What’s so special about him?” Rei says, feeling a little conflicted. This guy sure doesn’t give up. Besides, what’s his name?

“You don’t know Rin-chan? Y’know,  _ Matsuoka _ Rin-chan?” Nagisa says, starting to feel a little hopeless.

Rei thinks long and hard for a moment. Suddenly, that name does ring a bell. He thinks for a moment, before it all clicks together in his head. Oh, it’s  _ him. _

“Matsuoka Rin… Is the son of Matsuoka Toraichi, do I stand correct?” Rei says slowly, finally allowing Nagisa to run alongside him, which he gratefully appreciates by flashing him a smile.

“Yeah! That’s the one! Isn’t he so cool?”

“Absolutely _not!_ ” Rei yells, slowing down a little. Nagisa stops in his path. “His father’s music… Was absolutely unsatisfying! That’s the reason I will  _ not _ be joining your club! Rock music… Is so… So…” Rei builds up angrily, stopping again. Nagisa looks at him a little pained. “All of the jarring loud noises, the deafening crashing of wild drums, the harshness of the guitars, playing such high and jarring, unclean notes! Those who even dare throw a piano in there… Mixing the bad with good… All of it, it’s so…”

“Rei-chan-”

“It is  _ not beautiful _ _!_ ” He shrieks, clenching his fists and looking down at the floor. He makes a scene, but he has his own right too. “How can you even  _ dare _ to invite me…”

Nagisa looks at him for a long moment, before looking at the floor sadly. There’s one last thing he can say to change his mind.

“Haru-chan… Doesn’t make it feel that way.” He begins. Rei slowly lifts his head to look back at Nagisa, still wearing his frustrated expression. “Haru-chan plays the guitar so beautifully, sometimes you get lost in your thoughts just listening to it. He doesn’t play anything that sounds bad, and he can make you happy, or sad!” Nagisa says, smiling at the thought. “It’s not loud, and if it is, it makes you feel good inside.” He nods positively. “Haru-chan really is beautiful!”

Rei looks back at him. So, this boy believes that if he and this so called ‘Haru-chan’ combine their musical mind, they can create the most beautiful sound. He’d be lying if he were to say he wasn’t the slightest interested.

“Haru-chan was even in papers, that’s how good he is.” Nagisa beams. “Even the papers said he was beautiful. I haven’t even known him that long, but I know it’s the truth!”

Rei’s expression softens. So… This Haru-chan must really be something.

“If…” Rei begins, pausing to think to himself for a moment. This could either be a great idea, or a horrible one. It all depends on if this boy is telling the truth. “If I visit you, and see this Haru-chan for myself, will you stop pestering me?”

Nagisa completely ignores the pestering comment, and immediately focuses on the point that Rei seems  _ interested _ .

“ _Yahoo!_ You can come tomorrow, right?” Nagisa asks, running towards him and grabbing his forearms, which Rei feels too frozen to move. 

“I… I will try.” Rei replies, a little nervous all of a sudden. What has he gotten himself into? "Though I cannot promise you anything."

“ _Yay!_ Ah, you’ll love it, Rei-chan! I know you will!” Nagisa cheers, raising his and Rei’s arms in the air. This time, Rei fights his hold, and pulls his arms back towards himself.

“...Your name is?” Rei asks a little awkwardly. Nagisa tilts his head.

“Huh? You don’t know my name?” Nagisa asks. “Well, my name is Hazuki Nagisa! But you can call me Nagisa!”

“Right… Then I shall, see you tomorrow, Nagisa-kun.” Rei says, turning on his heel, and finally jogging away from the small blonde boy, who wears a bright smile on his face.

Nagisa knows what he said is true.

\---

“ _Chouko!_ ” Sousuke calls out from the kitchen. His little pet doesn’t turn up until he shakes the box of dog biscuits in his hand. He hears the familiar  _ pitter-patter  _ of Chouko’s little paws against the tiled floors, followed by a small yap.

He bends down on one knee and begins to fill up her bowl, which she in return doesn’t wait for. As soon as the first biscuit hits the bottom of her bowl, she sticks her face right in there, making Sousuke emit a loud growl throughout his kitchen.

“You just can’t wait one minute, can you?” Sousuke says to the little puppy, stroking her thick, fluffy fur as she begins to scoff up the biscuits he gives her. “Y’know, sometimes I think you only like me for the food I give you.” He says, before shaking his head.  _ She’s a dog, Sousuke. She won’t talk back to you. _

Sousuke decides to change his clothes as his pet eats. He dresses into something comfortable, a pair of black jeans, a plain white shirt, and his blue hoodie. When Chouko has had her dinner, he’ll take her out for her daily walk. Being cooped up in this little apartment isn’t much exercise for her, despite her small size.

The moment Sousuke pulls on his sneakers, Chouko barks, announcing that she has finished eating. Sousuke huffs amusedly through his nose. It’s a funny little thing for her to do, it’s kinda like she’s trying to tell Sousuke what she’s doing, as if he doesn’t know.

He won’t be laughing soon though. He hates this part.

Sousuke slowly comes back out from his bedroom, seeing Chouko currently ripping up her new toy on his wooden floors. He sighs, before nearing closer to his front door. The second his foot is a meter away from the door, her little head snaps up to look at him.

And when he reaches for her leash which hangs on the back of the door, he shuts his eyes and mentally prepares himself for the worst. Chouko goes bezerk. She loves going outdoors, so of course, the thought, and idea of finally being able to go outside after being out there twenty-four hours ago, is enough to make her zoom across Sousuke’s living room, making a complete mess out of it. 

Again.

But that isn’t the worst of it. What Sousuke hates the most about taking his pet for a walk isn’t cleaning up the mess she makes at home later, but infact, preparing her for it is the worst.

“Chouko, come here.” Sousuke says, loud enough for her to hear. He kneels down again, holding out the leash and collar, which she runs to. “Maybe if I’m lucky…” He mutters to himself, reaching out to hold her still, using his other hand to put the collar around her neck.

But he isn’t so lucky after all, as the minute he’s gotten the leather around her neck, she shakes her head, and flees from his grasp, running wild again. It usually takes him about for tries to get it on her properly.

“Come _here_ , damnit!” He calls after her. After she does another round of the living area, successfully knocking over his magazines again, she comes back to her owner, and sits still for him.

This time, Sousuke manages to get the collar fastened around her neck. He sighs as she dashes off to the kitchen, and then returns to him finally, allowing him to fasten the leash to the collar.

He picks her up in his arm with one hand,using the other to open the door. He would put her down on the floor, but he knows far too well that she would pull him away to explore the rest of the apartment block.

Sousuke lives on the second floor, which isn’t that much of a bother to him, but getting his dog down the small flight of stairs proves to be almost impossible. Since Chouko is still technically a puppy, she’s rather small, and tends to have a fear of stairs. So, he takes her into the elevator at the end of the hallway, which she however loves.

She yaps happily as soon as the doors of the elevator close, making Sousuke wince, as the shrill loudness of her little voice echoing against the four walls of the lift almost deafens him. That’s another thing. He hasn’t received any complaints about the barking from his neighbours. Yet.

The doors open, and he makes his way out. Well, Chouko pulls him out, and down towards the front door, which he opens carefully. She steps outside, and sticks her tongue out. There’s a couple of steps leading down from the apartment doors, so he bends down to pick her up, and puts her back down once they’re on pavement. He holds her leash in his left hand away from the road, before patting his pocket down, making sure that he has both the waste bags and his phone in there.

Chouko waits for Sousuke to start walking, before turning and walking with him. She isn’t that excitable once outside, as she doesn’t do what he first expected her to do and run off, choking herself and wheezing the whole walk. But she doesn’t walk besides him either. Just a little ahead.

Sousuke usually enjoys taking his pet for walks. It gives her a little freedom, as well as it gives himself a little time to think. 

Sometimes, he wishes he didn’t have such an excitable and wild dog. He prefers bigger dogs, too, he tells himself as he looks down at Chouko, who doesn’t even meet his shin. Though, she is cute. Sousuke isn’t really a big fan of cute things. In all honesty, despite him liking his manly image, he doesn’t care how he looks. So some cute things are alright.

He doesn’t believe that a dog like Chouko suits him, though. She suits somebody who’s more cute-looking themselves. Someone who can be soft and kind. Someone like… Makoto. When he thinks about it, Makoto kinda has a puppy-ish face…

Okay, this is getting weird.

Sousuke shakes his head of all thoughts about Rin’s friend. Can he call him  _ his _ friend? He has kinda bonded with Makoto a little, a lot more than with Haruka in that sense, but can he call him a friend just yet?

Sousuke thinks about him a little more, despite just telling himself to stop. Rin and Haurka both admitted that he writes both the music and the lyrics, which to be honest, is pretty impressive. But, he’s kinda taking away from Rin’s spotlight. He knows that the music club is a club for all of the members to experience in, but Rin has to show the most potential here. How can he move on and achieve in life if he doesn’t show it, and lets himself be overpowered by others?

Alright. Enough about Rin.  _ Focus on yourself _ , is probably what he’d say in reply to that.

So, what does  _ he _ want to do? He stops at a road, bending down to pick up Chouko in his arms as the traffic passes. He crosses the road carefully, and places her back down on the ground, pausing for a moment before continuing to walk.

The school have told him that joining a club is necessary, and he doesn’t have to go to afterschool clubs in his situation, so he can’t even pass Chouko off as an excuse. Shit.

But what can he do? He’s not exactly into languages, or science, or anything that requires an intelligent mind. As much as Rin wants him to, he knows he shouldn’t join the Music club. 

He can’t. It’s too risky. 

_ He’ll find out. _

And now that he’s decided to bond with Makoto, he knows that he probably wanted him to join too.

It’s at that moment when Sousuke remembers. He told Makoto that he used to play the bass when he was younger, which is true. Rin would invite him over, and they would jokingly have little sessions where they played their instruments together, and acted as if they were in a band, just like Rin’s father’s. Makoto doesn’t know that much, but if he goes back and tells Rin that… It’ll only upset Rin more.

Makoto wouldn’t do that… Would he?

Ah, back to Makoto again. Why does he keep popping into his head? He knows that he spent some time with him today, and that’s probably why. He’s curious about the guy. Wants to know if he’s all that Rin makes him out to be. Kind and sweet. He’s proved to show these elements to Sousuke so far, helping him out in class, and offering him food at lunch. It’s kinda strange, in a way. He has nothing against the guy, but he always acts so nervous around him. It’s a little bit like he’s… trying to  _ hide  _ something.

No, that can’t be. Makoto has shown to be quite an honest guy so far. He even admitted to him what his favourite genre of music was. That’s a big thing to do, right? Alright. This is ridiculous. Makoto isn’t hiding anything, he doesn’t have any proof that he’s hiding anything, Makoto’s just a shy guy. Sousuke knows he can come off as quite frightening and sturdy at first. Makoto’s just-

“Excuse me, sir, but your dog has left its  _ mess _  on the ground.” A lady says to him, pulling him out of his thoughts. He blinks at her once, before turning to look back at Chouko, who has infact, left her marking.

“Ah, I apologise, I wasn’t thinking properly.” Sousuke waves her off, taking the dog poop bags out of his pocket, and bending down for the third time that day.

“Not exactly a good aspect of a dog owner.” The lady scowls at him, before walking on ahead. Sousuke glares at her as she walks by, obviously not whilst she’s looking at him. How dare she… Chouko yaps at him, reminding Sousuke that she has left Sousuke a little task.

“Alright, alright, I’m doing it now.” He says to her, moving to clean up her mess.

For the rest of the walk, he thinks about what he can do instead of joining the Music club. There’s always a sports club… That could keep him in shape. He’s good at soccer, so that could help. But, is there a soccer club at Iwatobi? Hmm. Maybe a language club might be good for him. It could help him to learn and focus in class, but again… He doesn’t wanna spend his mornings working and figuring out more bullshit than he already has to.

Maybe just… Not signing up for anything is his best shot.

Sousuke sighs to himself, motioning to Chouko to turn around, and head back home. She barks happily, and turns around, doing her funny little dance.

At least one of them enjoyed their walk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wink wonk sousuke gon honk
> 
> that has no relevance to this story i couldnt think of anything else to put here please accept my poor humour lik comant nd subskrib
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions on my blog! 
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)
> 
> honksuke  
> its 3am


	17. Moving Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the first term almost a quarter way through, Sousuke begins to fix up his educational needs, with a little help from his best friend, and a little movement from somebody else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet again, things have been getting poopy at home. I apologise again for the long wait for this chapter. Hopefully, I think this is one of the best I have written so far, so I'm hoping that makes up for it. :)
> 
> Thanks to those who are patient with me, and enjoy this chapter!
> 
> //Also, please take time to read the end notes. Thank you.

Rin’s phone buzzes in the middle of the night. The boy himself is fast asleep, buried beneath his thick blanket, the pale screen glows on his bedside table. It vibrates loudly against the wood, causing the sleeping boy to stir a little.

“ _Mmh_ …” Rin groans softly. He rolls over onto his side, clutching his pillow tightly. Hmm. Was that his phone? Who’s messaging him at this time? Maybe it’s an email from somebody. Nobody usually messages him at these times… It’s probably just spam mail.

Rin keeps his eyes closed throughout the rest of the night. He’ll check it in the morning. He’s worn out from his jog, and his fingers are still a little numb from playing his guitar for so long. Plus, he needs enough rest to be able to function tomorrow.

When morning comes, Rin’s alarm goes off at seven. He slowly peels open his eyes, and allows them to adjust to April sunlight. 

Ah! That's right, his phone. It buzzed in the night and kinda disturbed him.

Rin sits up to stretch, before reaching over from his phone. He unplugs the charger before unlocking it, seeing that he has one text notification on the screen. Huh?

_ [Sousuke: Rin. Meet me after school. Need to talk to you.] _

He wants to talk to him? About what? Something about this text makes it seem like a serious matter, even if it’s just words on a screen. Rin frowns. Hopefully, Sousuke’s alright and it isn’t anything too serious. If it were he would have called him.

Besides, Rin needs to think of a good nickname for Sousuke to have as his contact name. He’s the only one on his contacts that doesn’t have a silly name. Ah well, he’ll think of one later. For now, he needs to sit up and get ready before his sister barges into his room and does it for him.

_ [Sure.] _

Rin tries not to worry as he goes about his morning routine, which ends in making himself something to eat, and waiting for Makoto to arrive. The clock on the kitchen wall says that he should be here any moment. Rin himself is quiet, as his mother is still asleep from working late. Gou has already left, after Chigusa has came to pick her up early. So he’s pretty much on his own this morning.

Makoto arrives a little late today, only a few minutes, carrying his keyboard on his arm. He greets Rin happily, and waits on his doorstep for Rin to retrieve his guitar, put his shoes on and hop outside.

“Nagisa texted me this morning.” Makoto begins their conversation, immediately choosing their topic. Rin turns his head towards Makoto. “He said something about getting Ryugazaki to come to our club.”

“Really?” Rin says, a little enthusiastically. He gives Makoto a small smile as he looks up, who nods back at him in return. “That’s great!” He exclaims. Makoto reaches up to itch at his cheek, giving Rin a small smile.

“I think Nagisa wanted to surprise you. Don't tell him I told you.” Makoto chuckles lightly. Rin nods slowly, smiling to himself.

“Of course. I'm getting excited now.” Rin says, feeling a sudden spring in his step. The band he wanted is finally starting to come together. “Do you think he told Haru?”

Makoto tilts his head. Nagisa probably only wants to surprise the club president, and show off his true recruitment skills. Thinking about it, Makoto smiles lightly at the thought. 

“I’m not too sure.” Makoto replies softly. “I guess we’ll find out if he tells us or not.” Rin gives him a small nod, and that’s pretty much their conversation for time being. 

There’s plenty to talk about between them, but the conversation that they both unwantedly had a few days ago is clearly still bothering them. Both that, and Sousuke, who is currently bothering the both of them for two completely different reasons.

“So…” Rin starts, sounding a little awkward. Makoto instantly knows what’s coming, he looks away a little shyly. “Did you get around to telling your parents yet?”

Makoto shakes his head, and Rin nods softly.

“No. I’m still a little scared, but like you said, I’ll find the courage one day.” Makoto smiles, making himself feel a little better. Rin mirrors his smile.

“Yeah. Don’t feel like I was rushing you or anything.” Rin says, a little concerned. “Things like that take time. A lot of things take time for them to turn out the way you want them to.”

Makoto’s smile widens at that. Rin is telling the truth. With enough time and patience, he’ll tell his parents, and hopefully he’ll feel a little more confident around Sousuke. He’d like to get close to him, maybe become good friends with him. But in his head, he knows that he wants to get closer than that.

His phone buzzes in his pocket again, distracting him from his thoughts. Makoto pulls it out and glances at the lit screen, seeing another text from Nagisa. He smiles down at the message.

_ [Nagisa: Oh, oh! Don’t tell Rin-chan!! I’m gonna surprise him! Wait outside the school gates for us!  (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ~] _

“What was that?” Rin asks a little curiously, trying to look up at Makoto’s phone screen, it’s unsuccessful, as Makoto holds the phone close to his face. 

“I was right, Nagisa wants to surprise you.” Makoto turns to him and his smile fades a little. “I kinda feel bad for telling you now…” He mutters. Rin shakes his head, and looks up at Makoto with a small smile before looking off ahead.

“I’ll just have to pretend to be excited for him, it won’t be hard because I am pretty excited. Ever since we all joined the Music club, I’ve been looking forward to it every day.” Rin says, it makes Makoto happy to hear what Rin thinks, because he pretty much agrees with him. Their club might be small at the moment, but he’s happy.

Haruka meets them outside his house today. They walk up the stairs to find him, bent down feeding the stray cats that usually visit him. It looks a little dangerous, as he has his guitar case directly above him. The cats that aren’t drinking, look curiously up at Haruka’s guitar case. One of them looks ready to pounce up onto it, but luckily Haruka stands to full height quickly when he notices his friends have arrived. Makoto smiles sweetly at the little fluffy animals.

“I got a text from Nagisa this morning.” Haruka says as he joins them on their walk towards the school. 

“Oh, then did you get one, too?” Makoto asks, tilting his head at Haruka. He expected this, anyway. Rin frowns a little. He’s starting to feel a little left out, if he’s being honest. 

Haruka nods, and that’s pretty much his only say in the conversation that continues. He tries to focus today, as he’s came up with a little something last night to play on his guitar to Makoto’s song, and despite him being very good at remembering melodies and tunes, he thinks about this one purely because it sounds good to him.

Which reminds him of Makoto’s lyrics. He doesn’t want to confront one of his best friends about the corny lyrics that he had written. There’s a first for everything, Haruka tells himself, and gradually Makoto’s lyrics will get better. Last night, he sat in his room trying different techniques, trying to fill the mood and capture the feeling that Makoto has put into it. But the problem is that Haruka isn’t a very romantic person, and so he can’t really feel any mood from Makoto’s lyrics.

Haruka thinks. Maybe the best way to create something that fills the mood and personality of the song, is to write the lyrics himself. But what can he write about? Well, Makoto wrote about love, which is something that he isn’t even considering. Unless it’s about something that he loves, like playing his guitar.  No. That’s worse than Makoto’s choice. Too sappy and cringeful.

Whilst Haruka thinks to himself a little more, akoto laughs lightly at Rin’s little bicker about his sister’s choice of school club. Gou has apparently decided to join one of the school’s sports clubs. Rin argues that she’s only joined probably to just ogle at all of the guys, but at the same time, he counter-argues himself by stating that Gou is very good at managing things. She always used to help out her father when he was managing his papers and files.

Makoto turns to see what Haruka’s whole opinion on this whole thing is, but catches him in thought. He’s always been good at reading minds. What is Haruka thinking about? He looks a little puzzled, yet bothered at the same time. It’s clearly something to do with his music in that case. He only ever has that look on his face when he thinks about his music, whether it’s something to do with his guitar or an actual song is next for Makoto to decide, but it’s a little hard this time.

“Thinking about a song?” Makoto asks Haruka suddenly. He watches as Haru’s eyes widen a little, before the shorter turns to look back at him with a small scowl.

“Stop doing that.” He says a little coldly, before looking back ahead of him. Rin shakes his head in small disbelief with a small chuckle. 

“A song, huh? Have you written something, Haru?” Rin asks, sounding a little teasing, which only deepens Haruka’s frown.

“No. I’m thinking.” Haruka states. Rin and Makoto look to each other for a moment, then at Haruka, who doesn’t say anything.

“Thinking about a new song?” Makoto asks, trying to get an answer from Haruka who softens his expression.

“Yeah. I came up with something again.” Haruka says in reply, nodding. Rin smiles happily. He’s so glad that Haruka can put his talent towards something. Makoto thinks this too, as his eyes crinkle as he smiles. “But I don’t think I’ve fully thought it through, yet.” He continues, closing his eyes in concentration as he walks.

Rin and Makoto share their smiles with each other as they continue their walk towards the school.

\---

“I think we have a few minutes before we have to be at homeroom. Maybe they’ll-”

_ “Rin-chan! Haru-chan! Mako-chaaan!~”  _ A small, familiar voice calls out, the three who have just had their names called turn their heads toward the voice that called them, Nagisa, who runs up to them in his school tracksuit. He’s followed by a much taller boy, who wears the same coloured track suit.

The three older boys look over at him in particular. This must be Ryugazaki.

“Nagisa… You made it.” Rin says a little awkwardly as he watches the smallest of the group bend down, hands on his thighs, panting out loud. He takes a moment, before shooting back up.

“So, which one of you is this almighty ‘Haru-chan’-San?” Rei says sharply, cutting off Nagisa and diverting all of their attention towards him. 

“Don’t add ‘-chan’ and ‘-san’ to my name.” Haruka replies, looking a little grumpy. Rei looks back at him, a little startled, both by his reply, but also from his looks.

“You must be Ryugazaki-san.” Makoto says with a small smile, hoping to break the tense atmosphere. It works, as Rei looks to him next, with a curt nod.

“Yes. Ryugazaki Rei. I’d like to come to visit your Music club this afternoon for a trial session, if you would allow me.” Rei addresses him. Makoto is a little taken back. He speaks so formally.

“Of course. Our club room is situated at the top of the building, facing the bathrooms. You can follow Nagisa there after class, right?” Rin says, taking control of the conversation. Rei’s eyes widen at hearing his voice, he turns to face him.

Rin is just like the papers said. A smile full of potential and a cool aura. But then again, there are other things the papers have said about him.

“Matsuoka-san, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Rei immediately says, bowing his head before him. This time, Rin’s eyes widen before looking around at their surroundings in panic, seeing if anybody else is around.

“ _Ahaha_ … You don’t have to bow for me, but it’s nice to meet you too.” Rin laughs nervously, reaching up to scratch at his neck.

“Uh-huh! I told Rei-chan all about you guys! Well, not particularly Mako-chan, but you can learn more about him later, he-”

“I’ll come and visit your club for a trial session then. But on one condition.” Rei cuts him off again. Nagisa pouts, as the others look up at him curiously. “I won’t play any instrument, or sing anything.”

“That’s fine.” Rin lies through his teeth. He was hoping that he would have at least sang for them. “Nagisa told us you’re a composer, right?” 

“That is correct.” Rei nods, before checking his watch. “I believe class begins in four minutes, and I would like to get to my class before lates begin. I shall see you all at the club later.” Rei closes his eyes and turns on his heel to head towards the school building. Nagisa’s eyes sparkle.

“He’s perfect for us, right!?” Nagisa cheers once he’s out of their sights. Makoto nods kindly in response, whilst Haruka and Rin are still a little tense. 

“Yeah…” Rin says again, watching with a little interest as the boy disappears into the school building.

\---

Once their lesson is over, lunch begins. And Rin waits in the little alley on their school’s yard for Sousuke, who told him to meet him there this morning. As he waits, anxiety begins to poke at him. Hopefully, it isn’t anything too serious. He decides to close his eyes and wait for Sousuke to arrive, and not think about the negatives.

“Rin.” Sousuke’s calm voice calls him out. Rin’s eyes slowly open, and he turns his head a little to see Sousuke standing in the shadows, ironically looking a little shady. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Rin smiles up at him, hoping to transfer his good mood over to him. It doesn’t work, which makes Rin a little skeptical. 

“Sure. What’s up?” Rin asks, tilting his head. He watches as Sousuke moves to lean against the wall facing him. He looks down at the ground before looking up at Rin, nothing but sheer seriousness on his face.

“I was thinking last night.” He begins, seeing no change on the expression on Rin’s face, so he continues. “The school want me to join a club, it’s necessary. But there’s nothing out there for me that I can be a part of.”

“Sousuke, you-”

“I know. I know that the music club would be good for me. We both do. But…” Sousuke leads off, turning to look off the side, before shaking his head. “It’s too risky. He doesn’t even know that you’re here. I’ve told him that you’re at a private school.”

“...You’re lying to him?” Rin says suddenly, staring up at him, a little bothered. Lying about the club is a maybe, but about him? His best friend?

“I have to. How do you think I convinced him I was capable of being a student here?” Sousuke snaps at him a little, putting Rin back in his previous mood. “Anyway, I don’t wanna talk about that. I wanna talk about the Music club.”

Rin looks up at him, a little saddened. He knew this wasn’t a good thing.

“It has to be something I can do only in the mornings. Something that doesn’t require a ton of effort. And you know that the Music club is going to be one of the most hard working clubs, for you especially.” Sousuke says sternly, almost as if he’s giving Rin a little scolding, which wasn’t what he set out to do.

“Then, what interests you?” Rin says a little quietly, frowning. Sousuke’s frown becomes a glare. This isn’t the response he wanted from him.

“You know what interests me. I want something to do with that, but there isn’t.” Sousuke snarls, looking back down at his shoes. This time it’s Rin’s turn to glare at him. No offence to Sousuke, but why should he be included in this? 

Then he remembers. When they were younger, Sousuke used to tell everything to him. He was the only person he felt comfortable opening up to. This must be what he’s doing. And he wants Sousuke to be with him all throughout his final High school years, but...Why did he lie about him not being here? Rin shakes his head. He doesn’t want to start another argument.

It’s becoming clear that Sousuke wants to be a part of the Music club, too. It makes Rin a little curious as to what turned him. At first, he was completely against the idea. There has to be something that Sousuke can do for them… Maybe not play, or even sing. But he knows that those are the things that Sousuke loves to do the most.

Sousuke isn’t exactly too keen about his own singing voice, but Rin, and the rest of Rin’s family have always praised him for it. For a scary and fearful look, his voice can sound so soft, and make your hairs stand on edge. That and, he has a stunning range of vocals. Rin almost laughs out loud of the memory, but he remembers once when he walked in on him singing by himself in their classroom at elementary. He’s still unsure on why he opted to play the bass as well as sing.

There has to be  _ something _ that Sousuke can do.  _ Think, Rin. Think. _

“This is a waste of time...” Sousuke sighs. He pushes himself off of the wall, and begins to walk away with a sullen look on his face. “I’m just gonna go and join the damn literature club.”

Rin’s eyes widen both at Sousuke’s response, but also at the idea that has just popped into his head.

“Sousuke! Wait. I think I’ve got something.” Rin calls after him. Sousuke stops in his tracks, and looks back over his shoulder, still adorning his frown. “You can train us.”

Sousuke’s eyebrow raises at that, and he turns back to face Rin, walking over a little.

“What do you mean, train you? I can’t play any of the instruments that you guys can play.” Sousuke replies coldly, but it doesn’t wipe the smile from Rin’s face, as his idea expands in his head.

“Well, we don’t have a singer yet. You can train one of us to sing.” Rin says, feeling joyous. “You won’t have to perform with us, and you won’t gain any publicity if you don’t want to. You can come and practice with us in the mornings.”

Sousuke’s eyes widen at that. Rin lets out a small laugh when he sees his teal orbs begin to glisten.  _ How had he not thought of that himself?  _ That way, he still gets to sing.

“That… You don’t mind?” Sousuke replies. Rin shakes his head. “I… I think that’s good for me.” He nods, closing his eyes and regaining his serious expression. “But, I won’t be able to sign as an official member. I don’t want to be a full time member of course, I’m… Somebody on the side.”

That makes Rin a little sad. He wants Sousuke to be a full member, of course he does. Because of his current little situation, he can’t. Rin thinks of something to say to make him feel good again.

“We can work on that, too.” Rin nods. “You can visit in the morning, and train us to sing. Well, you don’t have to train all three of us, I’m pretty alright at singing if I have to say so myself…”

Rin looks up to meet Sousuke’s deadpan expression. He laughs a little nervously.

“Then… Consider me a member. A part-time member.” Sousuke nods with a small smile, and holds out his hand for a handshake. Rin smirks up at him, before bumping their fists, and they go about their handshake.

“But, Rin.” Sousuke says a little serious, once they’re back to their normal stances. Rin turns to him with a pout. “I’m doing this for your sake. Not for anybody elses.”

Rin’s eyes widen. He’s a little taken back, as he wants the club to be a group effort, and not all about him. However, Sousuke is only so close to him, and doesn’t know the rest of his friends personally, so obviously he’s like this. Rin wants to show Sousuke that his friends are worth effort, too.

“I appreciate that. Thank you.” Rin nods politely up at him.

“Don’t mention it."

The two begin their walk back through the school building and up onto the school roof. They’re in the hallway when Rin finds himself getting a little curious again.

“Hey, Sousuke.” He begins a little softly. Sousuke doesn’t look back at him, but Rin knows he’s listening. “Which one of us do you think should be the singer?”

Sousuke thinks about that for a moment. Well, surely Rin might be telling the truth. His vocals are almost as good as his own. But then again, can Rin handle being the lead guitarist, lead vocals  _ and _ the club president at the same time? He knows that Rin is capable of a lot of things, but he also knows that Rin doesn’t have all of the time in the world. Haruka isn’t really an option. To be fair, just by looking at him, Haruka doesn’t really look like he’d be a good singer. If he can play guitar as beautifully as Rin tells him, then he must be able to have some sense of singing, but he just doesn’t look like the singing type. That leaves him with one answer, as he doesn’t know of any other members.

“Makoto.” Sousuke replies after a moment of silent thinking. Rin raises his eyebrows as he looks up toward him. He wasn’t expecting to hear that at all. “Think about it. He writes the lyrics, and he’s written a song. Only he knows how it goes. He’d be the easiest to train as he as the slightest idea of how to sing it. Didn’t you say something about his vocals when you were at my apartment?”

That strikes a chord in Rin. He flashes back to the time when he woke up to Makoto singing in his shower one morning after he and Haruka had stayed over. Haruka was still asleep, so he was completely unaware of it. He remembers Makoto stopping suddenly, and all he heard from then on was the sound of his shower running. Now that Rin thinks about it, Makoto probably must have realised he wasn’t in his own shower. His voice was… Unexcpected to say the most. Rin smiles softly.

“I guess you’re right. So you want to train Makoto then?” Rin smirks, nudging Sousuke’s side with his elbow. Sousuke’s eyes widen at that.

“That’s not what I said, but if I had to chose for real, then… Yeah.” Sousuke mutters, thinking about it a little more.

“Then why don’t you ask him? We can tell them you’re joining on the roof.” Rin suggests, making Sousuke think a little more. Should he really do this? Then again, there isn’t anything else for him. 

“...Yeah.”

\---

Makoto blinks once. Twice. Three times. Is he dreaming? More like having a nightmare. Sousuke is joining the music club. And wants to coach him on singing. 

It’s almost like everything he wanted, and everything he didn’t want at the same time. He’s totally in love with the thought of Sousuke being in their club, even if it’s just for the morning, but the whole singing thing… He isn’t too sure about it.

Sousuke sits on the roof, staring at him, waiting patiently for an answer.

Haruka sits besides Makoto silently, staring at him, too. He can read his mind perfectly, too. Makoto feels a little conflicted. He’d like to have a coach, but maybe Sousuke isn’t the right person. That’s Haruka’s perspective on it all. 

He isn’t too far off. The whole thing Makoto isn’t too sure about is the thought of having to literally sing for Sousuke. And probably sing  _ with _ him. Alone. Just the two of them.

“I…” Makoto whispers, looking down at his barely touched lunch before meeting Sousuke’s gaze again. Gosh, he could stare into those eyes forever. A wonderful sea green. That’s what they remind him of. Without thinking, he smiles softly and nods.  _ Wait. He hasn’t thought it through yet.  _ Makoto literally catches himself losing track of his thoughts as he still looks into Sousuke’s eyes. “I, I mean, if that’s fine with you, Sousuke.”

Sousuke nods back at him, closing his eyes again. “Good. We’ll start first thing tomorrow morning.”

Makoto’s eyes widen again in disbelief.

“So early?” Makoto panics a little, blinking again as he tries to take it all in. Sousuke opens his eyes and raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah. Is there a problem?” Sousuke replies, a little miffed. Makoto shakes his head.

“No. not at all. That’s great.” Makoto smiles back at him, tilting his head a little cutely.

Turning his head as he goes to pick up his bento to finish it, Makoto catches Rin looking at him in the corner of his eye. Makoto pauses to look up at Rin, who looks back at him. With a smug smile on his face.

Needless to say, Makoto doesn’t finish his lunch.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAAAHOOOOO!! i've literally been waiting forever to drop that one lmao
> 
> // AIGHT LISTEN UP // So, I want to put this fic out a little more, because I've had quite a few comments saying that it should have more kudos than it does. thank you for that by the way! I want to promote this fic on tubmlr by drawing a scene from the fic so far. What I need y'all to do is to help me out. Which scene should I redraw? // pls leave your answer in the comments! <3
> 
> \---
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions on my blog! 
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	18. Deep Breaths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rei's trial session begins, as do Sousuke and Makoto's training. Both of which take an unexpected turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPISE AGAIN!?!?! ITS ME!?!
> 
> I was so pumped from the last chapter to get this one out!! I think the next few chapters will be like this. I'm so happy with everybody's feedback, and all of the lovely replies to the question I put out yesterday. 
> 
> I think it's between the paired work scene (Chapter 9) or the cleaning scene (Chapter 15). Unless there's something from this chapter, lmao
> 
> So please enjoy this chapter!!

“C’mon, Rei-chan! This way!” Nagisa calls out, taking a grip on Rei’s arm and pulling him down the hallway with a bounce in his step.

“Nagisa-kun, you’re being rough! Matsuoka-senpai told me where the club room is!” Rei replies, scolding him. He manages to keep up with Nagisa however, and not lose his footing. Nagisa makes a small disappointed noise, before looking over his shoulder to pout at him.

“You could at least let me have my excitement…” Nagisa groans. Rei blinks slowly, before looking away. Nagisa giggles, before yanking him up the stairs.

“ _Wah, Nagisa-kun!_ ”

“I think I can hear them.” Makoto chuckles. Rin and Haruka both nod, as they can hear them bickering outside, too. “Do you think Ryugazaki-kun will like our club?”

“Of course. We’re doing great so far, and we’re all having fun, right?” Rin replies, tilting his head in question. Haruka nods quietly again, as Makoto lets out a happy hum.

“Yeah! But… What do you think Ryugazaki-kun will like about our club?” Makoto asks, unknowingly silencing the other two. “...We don’t have anything planned for today.”

The three of them suddenly freeze once Makoto shuts his mouth. He’s right. They haven’t planned anything for today. For the past couple of days, they’ve just been playing around on their instruments, whilst Makoto tries to pen down some more lyrics to finish either two of the songs that he’s written so far. Nothing really exciting…

“Shit. What can we do?” Rin panics, looking up to Makoto for help.

“Ah! D-don’t look at me! You’re the club president!” Makoto cries, pouting at him, reflecting his look of panic.

“Oi. Calm down. We’ll just work on our song for today.” Haruka says calmly, closing his eyes. He doesn’t move to get his guitar just yet. “He’ll see it all for himself.”

Rin looks over to Haruka, as does Makoto, and his expression softens. He’s glad one of them can keep a calm attitude. Makoto thinks for a moment. Haruka has the right mindset.

“That’s true, but… Is it really enough?” Rin replies quietly. Makoto shakes his head.

“Maybe, but we don’t want to overwhelm him, right? We can’t pressure ourselves to do more, it’ll only stress him out with the amount of work.” Makoto says to Rin, who blinks at him for a moment before huffing through his nose in amusement.

“You’re right. Jeez, I really shouldn’t be the president…” Rin mutters, looking down at the table with a tiny frown.

“That’s not true. There are other things that you can excel in, Rin. They just haven’t come about yet.” Makoto says happily, hoping to make Rin feel happy, too. It takes a minute to put the smile back on Rin’s face.

How can Makoto always manage to cheer anybody up so easily?

“Yahoo! We made it!” Nagisa sings out loud, as soon as he’s busted the door open. Rei stands behind him, a little surprised at Nagisa’s boisterous actions.

“Nagisa, Rei, yo.” Rin greets them. Haruka slowly looks up to them, not saying a word, as Makoto politely waves at the two.

Rei doesn’t hear Rin calling him by his first name, as he’s far too distracted by the club room to answer anybody. It’s not too great… The only instruments in here are the drum kit, and a piano. Two guitar cases lean against the wall, as well as a rectangular shaped bag, too. The room in itself is very bare… Nothing compared to the school’s auditorium.

“Heheh, the club room is really small, isn’t it?” Makoto says, catching Rei’s attention, he looks over at him a little surprised by the fact that he knew what he was thinking. Makoto smiles back at him.

“Yes… I thought they would give you more musical equipment than this…” Rei mutters. The rest silently agree. There aren’t even any music stands in here…”Besides, good afternoon.” Rei says, shaking his head and taking a polite bow. “Let’s hope that there’s something I’ll see today that will convince me.”

Rei puts it out there like a challenge. Something that will convince him, hm?

“Of course.” Rin says confidently. “C’mon over here, take a seat.” He says, motioning towards the two empty seats in front of him and Makoto.

Nagisa skips over towards the table happily, taking his seat facing Makoto, leaving the only seat in the room for Rei. Facing Rin.

Rei pauses for a moment before heading over towards the table and sitting down in front of Rin. He looks up at him a little hesitantly. It’s not that he’s scared of him it’s just that, well… He’s never really met anybody like him in his life. What is he doing at a public school like this?

“So, I think we should take a moment to get to know each other.” Rin nods, looking up at Rei with a smile. “My name is Matsuoka Rin, you’ve probably heard about me, maybe you haven’t. But I play the guitar, and I’m the lead guitarist of the band, and the club president.”

“Again, it is a pleasure to meet you, Matsuoka-senpai…” Rei bows his head. Rin feels a little flustered. He’s never been addressed to as a ‘senpai’ before. Makoto clears his throat quietly.

“Ah, I guess it’s my turn. My name is Tachibana Makoto. I’m the club’s vice president, and the band’s keyboardist. It’s nice to meet you.”

“As it is to meet you, Tachibana-senpai.” Rei nods at him. Makoto blushes.

“Ahaha… Just Makoto is fine.” He smiles.

“Nanase Haruka. I play the guitar.” Haruka says, a little bored. Rei looks over to him, and studies him, as he is the one that Nagisa has been barking about to him.

“Nice to meet you, Nanase-senpai…” Rei says, a little quieter. Haruka nods quietly at him, as if to say that it’s nice to meet him, too.

“You already know me, Rei-chan!” Nagisa chirps, making Rei frown. He doesn’t really know him that well.

“Yes, Nagisa-kun.” Rei turns to him. “I take it that you are the drummer, correct?” 

Nagisa nods enthusiastically. Rei slowly turns back to look between the four of them, one last thing on his mind.

“So… Which one of you is the singer?” Rei asks. He raises an eyebrow when they all go silent. Rin is the first to make a move. He turns to look to his right at Makoto, who is nervously smiling and itching behind his ear.

“Heheh… I am.” Makoto begins, giving Rei his trademark smile. “Well, I’m being coached by somebody to learn to sing.” He says, getting quieter and quieter as he goes along. “Since I wrote the song…”

“Coached? By a professional singer, or a teacher here?” Rei asks with sudden curiosity. To be honest, he expected somebody like Rin to be the singer.

“Ah, no. I’m starting my training tomorrow with a friend.” Makoto replies. He’s a little awkward as to calling Sousuke his friend, with Rin sat next to him and all. But Rin sits there with a smile on his face, so it doesn’t really bother him. 

It doesn’t bother Haruka either, and to be honest, Haruka isn’t so bothered about Sousuke being Makoto’s coach. However, he still has some sort of ‘off’ feeling about Sousuke.

“Huh? Mako-chan, since when did you decide to be the singer?” Nagisa says out of confusion, tilting his head. Rin looks over at him with a small glare as if to tell him to shut his mouth. He’s making an unorganized impression for them in front of Rei.

“Oh, that’s right, we didn’t tell you.” Makoto shakes his head. “Lunch this afternoon, a friend of ours decided that he’d like to be a part of the club, too.” 

“Huh? A new member?” Nagisa whines. All of his efforts to get Rei in their club was for nothing, when they could pull in one just like that? “Ah, but Rei-chan! We still want you here!”

Rei looks over to him a little surprised. He wasn’t planning on leaving, anyway…

“Then… Shouldn’t he be here?” Rei asks, looking around, before looking over at the door.

“Well, he’s not really a member.” Rin laughs softly. “He’s a part time member. He’ll be here of a morning to coach Makoto.” Rin addresses to Rei, who nods slowly at him.

“I see…” He replies quietly.

Makoto watches them converse before thinking to himself again. So, tomorrow morning he’ll begin his training. And if he’s being honest, he’s absolutely terrified. Well, maybe nervous is more like it. Extremely nervous. For more reasons than one.

“So, Rei. What kind of music do you like?” Haruka asks him suddenly. Rei nods at him confidently. Finally, a question about music.

“Ah, well, I like genres like classical, and jazz.” Rei starts, smiling brilliantly. Nagisa deadpans up at him. Totally what he expected. “Although some Folk and contemporary R&B songs are fine…” Rei mutters. Haruka nods. 

“Nice.”

“That’s great! Even though we all have different music tastes, it means that we have different musical experiences. We can combine our experiences and songs together to make a new sound, right?” Rin exclaims, putting a smile on Nagisa and Makoto’s faces. Makoto smiles the happiest. That sounds like something he should have said.

“Does your band have a name yet?” Rei asks out of sheer curiosity. 

“Ever Blue.” Haruka says simply, before getting out of his chair. Here he goes.

“Ever Blue?” Rei repeats he thinks about it for a little moment. Why would they name it something like that? Either way, it sounds… “Beautiful.”

Nagisa smiles at Rei’s reply, before turning in his chair to watch as Haruka walks over to find his guitar case, which is the smallest one. He picks it up and takes it over towards the middle of the room, as well as his chair.

Rei turns to watch him, too, a little oddly. Are they all going to play for him, now?

"So, Makoto. Have you made any progress on your song? I've written something to play along to it, if Haru is willing to go along with me." Rin carries on, turning to Makoto. Rei looks at them a little oddly. Do they not see this happening?

"Yes, actually. I tried to write a little part of the bridge, but I have to options..." Makoto mutters a little quieter. Rei tries to focus on them, but he's still a little baffled by Haruka's movements. He turns around a little in his chair, and watches him.

"That's amazing! How you can come up with these so quick is beyond me, do you mind if I take a look at them?" Rin replies to Makoto. For Rei, they're starting to become background noise. Why aren't the others paying attention to him? Have they not noticed him getting out of his seat and moving at all?

“Nanase-senpai, what are-”

“Shh, Rei. You have to let him into his zone. He’s always like this.” Makoto cuts him off with a silent hush. Rei does as he’s told of course, and stays quiet. This isn’t particularly great for team bonding...

Haruka takes his guitar out of his case, and looks over it for a minute. He’s probably checking for any marks or dents. There aren’t any, as he doesn’t make a big fuss over anything, and slips the strap over his shoulder.

Silence fills the room.

Followed by a smooth, slide from Haruka’s guitar, which turns to strong strumming. Haruka’s technique this time is very flowing, a funky “ _ chik-scratch _ ” sound, up tempo, and powerful more than anything. His fingers stab at the fretboard, but he doesn’t look. He closes his eyes, and lets the music take over him. The notes in themselves are fairly happy and energetic. 

Rei isn’t really a fan of rock music, but this he could listen to forever. How is he doing this with his eyes closed? This isn’t exactly what he’s into, but he’ll listen for sure.

And almost as if he detects Rei’s thoughts, Haruka switches up the tune.

He lets his notes and movements disintegrate to something slower, getting softer and softer, until the notes are flowing freely, and smoothly moving along. He differs between quiet and slightly louder sounds. It sounds like a warm spring, in a countryside full of life and greenery, the wind moving softly, and a crisp sense of freedom in the air. The chords he uses are gentle and cheerful.

If he listens closely enough, Rei can hear Haruka breathing in time with the rhythm, soft, and easy. This is amazing. He’s almost captivated by the way Haruka’s fingers dance along his fretboard. How he can go from one sound to another is truly...

Nagisa takes a moment to look up at Rei, and his smile widens when he sees the truly captivated look spread across Rei’s face.

_ Can I learn to play like that? _

“See? I told you.” Nagisa pipes up from besides him. Rei doesn’t even break away from looking at Haruka to turn to Nagisa.

“He truly is… _Beautiful_.”

\---

“Ahh, we’ve got him sold, I’m telling you!” Rin says after taking a sip from his water bottle.

He, Makoto and Haruka on on their walk home after what seemed like a good day at the club. One of their best, to be fair. After Rei had moved on from complimenting Haruka’s talents and what not, Rin practiced with Haruka and Nagisa to try and work on their tempos.

Rei wasn’t taken by surprise at all when it came to Nagisa’s drumming. He was loud, and energetic, just like the boy himself. However, he could be tamed, to be a little quieter and calmer. He was just happy he got to hear Haruka play again.

He sat with Makoto for a little while at the table, as he penned down some lyrics. He was a little shy about showing Rei his lyrics at first. His impression of Makoto’s lyrics weren’t what he wanted, but he was expecting it anyway.

“So then, do we have six members in our club now?” Makoto replies, feeling a little relieved himself.

“Technically five and a half, but yeah, if we have turned Rei around, then that’s six.” Rin smiles. 

Haruka eats his popsicle in silence besides them. He doesn’t know what Rei will bring to the club, maybe he  _ will  _ compose some good pieces for them. He just hopes that Rei doesn’t push himself too hard based on his decision. Pressure can break people, easily.

“Man, I can’t wait for tomorrow.” Rin sighs out happily.

“Yeah.” Makoto agrees, for both Rei’s possibility of joining their club, but also to begin his training. “Me too…”

\---

The following day, Makoto is hesitant to leave his friends at the school gate and head up to the club room. The rest of the members are allowed there too of a morning, but they’ve decided to just give the two their space and take the pressure off of Makoto’s back.

He walks through the halls slowly, reaching the stairs, and takes a deep breath before ascending them. They have about twenty minutes before they have to head back down to their homeroom.

Makoto holds his breath as he pushes open the door to the club room. He catches Sousuke looking out of the window, before the door makes a creak, and turns him to face Makoto entering.

“Good morning, Sousuke.” Makoto greets him kindly. He goes about setting down his keyboard against the wall, waiting for Sousuke’s reply.

“Yo.” He says simply, walking over towards him a little. “Are you ready?”

“Ah, I think so.” Makoto smiles a little sheepishly. Sousuke blinks at him before nodding slowly.

“So, this is going to be a thing every morning. Can you do with that?” Sousuke asks him with a stern expression. Makoto’s eyes widen slightly. Every morning? That’s a little tough…

“T-that’s fine with me.” Makoto nods. Sousuke shakes his head. He knows he’s not telling the truth.

“Listen. I know you’re still a little nervous around me. I get that. A lot of people are like that around me. I don’t know why, I guess it’s just because of the way I look. But I want to make sure you’re comfortable before anything.” Sousuke says, making direct eye contact with him.

“It’s not that I’m nervous around you.. I’m just a little nervous about singing. I’ve never had singing lessons before.” Makoto laughs, putting his hands behind his back.

“Right. But you can sing, can’t you?” Sousuke asks him, suddenly feeling a little unsure.

“Rin says I can.” Makoto looks off towards the side. To be fair, he can sing. Just not anything too soft or too high.

“That’s just Rin. He says a lot of shit like that.” Sousuke shakes his head, he then turns around, and walks back over towards the window. He turns back around, giving Makoto some space.  “Let’s hear what you’ve got.”

“Ah! B-but…” Makoto yelps, before silencing himself. He looks directly at Sousuke, who looks back at him patiently, wearing his usual frown. “Um…”

An awkward silence passes as Makoto stands and inwardly panics, and Sousuke continues to stare at him, slowly getting impatient.

Sousuke sighs through his nose, and presses off of the wall. 

“You can’t.” Sousuke spells it out. “But I’m here to coach you. That’s my job and I’m going to do it.” He says, watching Makoto with a sulk. Makoto smiles back at him thankfully, but Sousuke makes sure it doesn’t stay. “Let me make this clear, however.” He snaps again. Makoto’s smile fades. “I’m doing this for Rin’s sake. So I won’t go easy on you.”

Makoto looks up at him with a small pout for a moment. That isn’t really fair. Sousuke lowers his eyebrows at him, as if to tell him to stop looking at him like that. Makoto supposes that Rin is Sousuke’s best friend, and that this  _ is _ benefitting  _ him _ . It saddens him, to be honest. But maybe that’s how Sousuke is. He’s just going to have to suck it up, and bare with it.

“Of course. Then, I’m up to the challenge.” Makoto smiles confidently at him, which surprises Sousuke a little. He wasn’t expecting that. Sousuke grins down at him for a moment.

“Strong words for someone who wouldn’t even sing for me a minute ago.” He snickers. Makoto tries to keep his blush down as he looks away.

“I didn’t know what to sing…” Makoto says shyly, rubbing up and down his arm with his opposite hand. 

“School anthem. Go.” Sousuke says simply, looking over at him, as he stares back at him wide eyed, jaw slightly dropped.

“...I-”

“Told you.” Sousuke argues back, wearing his smug grin again. Makoto groans, and looks down at his feet.

“.. _.Sorry_.” He mutters quietly.

“Come on. We only have fifteen minutes, let’s get some practice done.” Sousuke nods. “We’ll have to come in earlier on some days to get more done.” He notes. Makoto looks up at him softly. More time with him? Makoto doesn’t mind at all.

“Sure. That’ll help a lot.” He smiles again. Sousuke looks back at him before moving closer to the keyboard, Makoto follows in tow.

“Let’s start of with scales. Have you ever done those before?” Sousuke asks him. Makoto shakes his head. “Alright. We’ll start by humming. You’re obviously the better piano player, so give me a C note. I’ll hum, and you repeat after me.”

Makoto nods, taking in his every word. He reaches his hand out towards the piano, and presses the C key. He instantly looks towards Sousuke, who closes his eyes.

Sousuke then hums, and even his humming is perfectly in tune it's low, just like his voice. He hums a small scale, but Makoto is totally taken away by his humming purely.

“Your turn.” Sousuke says when he opens his eyes. 

“That was good.” Makoto smiles and nods at him. Sousuke doesn't smile back at him.

“You don't have to say that. Hum what I did.” Sousuke says sternly again. Makoto nods before pressing the key again. He hesitates a little before copying Sousuke.

Sousuke nods at him. So he can hum that one. Makoto’s hums are a little bit lighter than his own.

“Next key.” Sousuke tells him, and he does so. Sousuke hums again, and Makoto follows. 

They practice this exchange a couple more times, until Sousuke gets bored of it, and he’s pretty sure that Makoto is capable of humming a tune.

“Alright. Now we move to actually singing the notes out. Let’s start from the C note, and see how high you can go.” Sousuke says, and Makoto nods at him. “This will tell me what key your songs should be set at so you can sound good no matter what.”

Makoto smiles up at him. Despite him not being too friendly with him right now, he sure is helping out a lot.

“Okay. Whenever you’re ready.” Sousuke instructs him, nodding at the piano. Makoto presses the key once more, and holds it down for a second. He hears Sousuke breathing in, before opening his mouth. “ _ Ah, Aaah~ _ ”

Makoto stands and watches him for a moment. Even for just one note and one open vowel, his voice already sounds so, so good. He then realises that Sousuke is waiting for him to follow. Makoto looks back down at the keyboard. He breathes in. But before he can say anything, Sousuke moves towards him quickly.

He takes Makoto’s chin into his hand. His fingers are so, soft. For a second, Makoto panics and thinks he’s going to kiss him. 

“Head up.” Sousuke says lightly. Makoto is deathly silent as Sousuke lifts his chin up to meet Sousuke’s gaze. “And keep your back straight.” He continues, waiting another moment to give Makoto the go ahead. Makoto breathes in again. He feels a little frozen from Sousuke’s touch.

“Ah, Aaah~” He repeats, looking hopefully up at Sousuke. Sousuke gives a small nod in return, before pressing the next key himself.

“ _ Ah, Aaah~ _ ” Sousuke sings. He sings a key higher. Makoto follows, taking another deep breath. 

They continue the cycle of taking it up a note each time, singing the same array of notes and getting higher and higher, when Makoto begins to find it to become a little bit of a struggle. Both because he can’t really sing high notes, but also because of the pure clarity and strength of Sousuke’s voice. It’s distracting him, badly.

“Ah-”

“Makoto, are you breathing from your diaphragm?” Sousuke cuts him off. He notices that Makoto is starting to get a little out of breath. Makoto looks back up at him.

“...My what?” Makoto repeats, and tilts his head, a little confused. Diaphragm… That sounds oddly familiar. Sousuke rolls his eyes softly. Honestly, Makoto should know about that, but he can’t have a go at him for that. He… Looks too cute at the moment to lecture.

“Below your lungs. That’s where your diaphragm is. Breathe from there.” Sousuke instructs him. Makoto blinks up at him, his mouth scrunching up. Sousuke shakes his head, before putting a hand to his stomach. Makoto watches him as he breathes in heavily through his nose. His chest doesn’t raise, nor does it expand. “Try doing this. It helps you to breath through your diaphragm rather than your chest. Push down when you ascend the scale, and let go slowly when you descend.”

Makoto does as Sousuke has asked him to. He presses his hand to his stomach, and presses in, and off.

“ _ Ah, aaah~ _ ” Makoto sings. But he more or less strains himself to get that note out. Sousuke’s eyes widen. Makoto’s voice is very… Scratchy. But not the bad kind of scratchy. The good kind. He wasn’t sounding this way before… Before that one, he was kinda quiet and a little soft. Sousuke is a little stunned, none the less.

“...Woah.” Sousuke comments. Makoto laughs nervously at him, feeling a little blush creeping up on his cheeks before turning his head away. “What was with the sudden change of voice?”

“Oh, I um… Don’t think I told you.” Makoto replies, slowly lifting his head again. “I can’t sing very softly, nor can I sing any high notes.” He admits a little embarrassingly. Sousuke cocks an eyebrow at him.

“I don’t get it. You have a really soft voice when you speak.” Sousuke replies, looking away out of the window. Makoto smiles for a moment. He honestly doesn’t know whether he enjoys Sousuke’s subtle compliments or not. 

“Yeah. I guess it’s just a thing about my voice. It’s really odd, right?” Makoto says, taking a little step back. Sousuke nods slowly.

“Right… Well, I think that’s enough warming up. Do you think we have time to practice your song?” Sousuke asks, trying to look down at Makoto’s watch, despite there being a huge clock behind him. Makoto laughs softly.

Sousuke glances at him oddly. Why does he always laugh at him like that? To be fair, he isn’t complaining. It’s annoying, but there’s something comforting about it.

Makoto shakes his head once he’s done laughing. He opens his eyes slowly, to that same sight again. The morning light from the window next to them shines down over the two of them. Sousuke’s eyes look absolutely gorgeous in this light. Makoto finds himself inwardly cringing at himself. How can he say all of this to himself he's looking right at him?

_ Hold on. Is he looking back at him? _

Before Sousuke can open his mouth again, their school bell rings, and the two of them freeze. That was twenty minutes already?

“That… That went so fast!” Makoto exclaims, moving fast to grab, his things. He hurries towards the bench to pick up his backpack. Sousuke watches him silently, thinking to himself before swallowing thickly.

“Makoto. Wait there.” Sousuke says, making Makoto come to a halt. “Do you have a pen?” 

Makoto blinks slowly before humming in positivity, and fishing through his bag for a pen. He finds one quickly, and uncaps it for Sousuke. Obviously he could have done that himself, but he just thought it would be-

Makoto turns around to see Sousuke standing there in front of him, with his sleeve rolled back, holding his arm out to him.

“...I think it would be a good idea to exchange numbers.” Sousuke states, making direct eye contact with him again. 

Makoto tries not to hesitate before agreeing, and taking Sousuke’s arm into his grip to hold it steadily as he pens his mobile number onto his skin. He writes it gently, as to not hurt him.  _ Is this even his mobile number? He knows it off by heart, but what if he makes a mistake?   _ It’s such a simple task, but Makoto tries to keep calm. Sousuke’s arm is so toned. It’s a lovely tanned colour, just like the rest of him. Of course it is. Why wouldn’t it be? 

He hasn’t even take a moment to celebrate the fact that he has Sousuke’s number, now. Well, not yet, but soon he will.

Sousuke rolls his sleeve back up and buttons it when Makoto lifts the pen from his arm and caps it again.

“I’ll text you afterwards… We clearly need to plan more time for this if it’s going to become a daily thing.” Sousuke says, regaining his serious tone. Makoto confidently nods back at him.

“Of course. I had fun this morning, Sousuke. Thank you. I think I’m looking forward to working with you more.” Makoto says happily, smiling at him as usual. He didn’t even think about what he said. 

“Don’t mention it.” Sousuke replies stoically, before swiftly turning on his heel and heading out of the room.

Sousuke doesn’t seem too excited, but at least he got his number. Makoto smiles brighter. He thinks from now on, his confidence around Sousuke is going to improve. He wants to work with him, and help him practice, and even help him with his songs. Singing them.

Singing his song. 

That he wrote about Sousuke.

_ To Sousuke. _

Makoto freezes still, wearing his now wobbling smile of his face. The door of the club room squeaks closed, announcing that Sousuke has left him behind. Left him behind to shiver and panic on his own.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> p r o g r e s s m y c h i l d r e n
> 
> p r OgreESSS
> 
> Yay! I hope you all enjoyed that chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! I'll see y'all next chapter for more soumakos and rei <3 
> 
> \---
> 
> // AIGHT LISTEN UP // So, I want to put this fic out a little more, because I've had quite a few comments saying that it should have more kudos than it does. thank you for that by the way! I want to promote this fic on tubmlr by drawing a scene from the fic so far. What I need y'all to do is to help me out. Which scene should I redraw? // pls leave your answer in the comments! <3
> 
> \---
> 
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	19. A Slight Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are looking good for the Music Club. All except for one member.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I BELIEVE TODAY MARKS THE ONE YEAR OF THIS FIC AND IT ONLY HAS 19 CHAPTERS WORLDS WORST FIC AUTHOUR GOES TO KARUMELLO THANK U ID LIKE TO THANK MY FUFUCKFCFIFCN AAAAAAA
> 
> In apology for the wait for this chapter, this one is the longest yet, and you finally get to hear Makoto's song kinda its down there i promise

Rin makes a displeased groan, before laying his head down on the table. Rei has decided to not turn up this afternoon, meaning that he’s decided against joining.

“ _And I thought we had him_ …” Nagisa whines, lifting his head up from the table with a small pout. “I was positive that Haru-chan had convinced him enough.”  
  
“I didn’t do anything.” Haruka says nonchalantly from across the room. He isn’t really that bothered by Rei’s choice. He didn’t particularly say he was convinced nor did he say he would be back. Besides, Haruka doesn’t really like mingling with new people all that much anyway.

“We can’t be sad about it forever, guys.” Makoto says softly, in an attempt to cheer up the two brooding at the table. “We still have four and a half members, right? That’s more than what we expected!” Makoto cheers. But it doesn’t have any effect on the two.

“Well, Makoto has a point… I suppose we get back to practice...” Rin lifts his head, and pushes his chair back. Haurka is already sat waiting for them by the drum set, on his chair with his guitar in his lap, playing to himself idly. Nagisa looks up at Rin with a dejected look, which he shrugs back at, before groaning and getting up himself.

Makoto watches wistfully as the two literally drag themselves to the other side of the room. Nagisa slumps down behind his drum kit, and picks up the sticks. Haruka opens an eye to look over at them in annoyance.

“Alright so… Let’s cheer ourselves up, right?” Rin says after taking a deep breath. He lifts his head up high and smiles lightly at the two. “If that’s what Rei chose to do, then we should let him. To be fair, wasn’t he against joining in the first place?”

Nagisa hums quietly, staring down at the drum in front of him. He supposes Rin is right. Maybe Rei wasn’t meant to be a part of their club.

“Let’s work on your timing, Nagisa. I’ll count you in. Haru, I’ll work with you separately. I suppose for now you can play quietly.” Rin says, looking between the two. Haruka nods quietly, before shuffling over in his seat, giving them a little space. Rin doesn’t thank Haruka, but instead looks up at Nagisa with a comforting smile. “Okay. We’re still working on that quarter beat. I’ll clap in time, like a metronome, and you work around it.”

“Roger!” Nagisa replies, tapping his sticks together, glancing over his instrument, and then looking Rin in the eye again.

“Remember, play to the beat I give you, and don’t get too crazy.” Rin warns him, before lifting his hands up, and starting to clap to a quarter beat. “One, two, three, four…” He counts, watching Nagisa’s hands rather than his face.

Nagisa waits two whole full beats before tapping his sticks together, and playing. He starts off with a soft tapping against his cymbal, before kicking in with the bass drum and building up a steady quarter beat. He plays Makoto’s piano piece as best as he can from memory in his head, working around it.

Makoto himself sits at the table, watching them as he taps his pen against his notebook in time with Rin’s metronome. Nagisa is very good when it comes to creating a catchy beat. He must have been practicing this at home. Makoto looks up at them for a moment longer before looking back down at his notebook, which is covered in rubber shavings, and surrounded by ripped out pieces of paper.

He’s currently trying to think of a new song that he can sing for Sousuke tomorrow. Because there is no way in Hell he’s singing the song that he’s written already for him. That would literally be him confessing his feelings about Sousuke, and Sousuke seems like a pretty smart guy, so he would figure it out instantly.

Thing is, that’s the only song that he’s come up with a tune for. So he’s going to have to come up with new lyrics, and a new tune, too. Unless… He makes new lyrics to fit the same tune. That could work, but no, it wouldn’t have the same feeling. Makoto sighs quietly, tapping the pen against his lips this time.

There’s the sound of a chair being pushed, which makes Makoto look up. He sees Haruka standing up, and placing his guitar in the stand next to him. Haruka walks over toward the table that Makoto is sat at, and looks down at him.

“Makoto.” He says calmly, but Makoto can sense a little concern in his voice. “Are you okay?” He asks. Makoto glances back at him, a little surprised, before giving him a soft smile.

“I’m fine.” Makoto replies, meeting Haruka’s frown. “I’m just… Thinking of lyrics is hard.” He admits, lowering his head and seeing that his pen has made some little marks on the paper.

“I thought you wrote the lyrics for the song…” Haruka mutters, taking his seat at the head of the table, and pushing his chair under. Nagisa and Rin haven’t acknowledged this yet.

“I have, I mean for a new song.” Makoto nods, looking up at Haruka and then at his blank notebook.

“Why are you writing new lyrics?” Haruka asks, frown deepening. “I thought we were all working on this one…” He says, sounding a little confused. Makoto keeps his head down as he opens his mouth.

“I don’t really want to sing those lyrics to Sousuke…” He admits again, giving a nervous laugh. Haruka doesn’t reply, which makes Makoto lift his head again. Haruka looks a little annoyed.

“You wrote them, and you have a tune for them.” Haruka says, reading Makoto’s mind. Makoto looks at him with a small pout. Just like Sousuke did, Haruka lowers his eyebrows at him. “So sing them. You’re wasting time by thinking of something new, and you’re just going to wear yourself out.”

Makoto nods slowly, looking down at the paper one more time before closing the book. Haruka has a point. This is just going to infuriate him even more. But… Haruka doesn’t know that he likes Sousuke, to a point where he wrote a song about him.

“You’re right.” Makoto smiles at him. Haruka closes his eyes and nods at him once as if to say he agrees. “I suppose that Sousuke’ll just have to cringe at the lyrics, too…”

Haruka looks at him oddly. It’s a little mean that Makoto thinks that about his own lyrics. Then again, the first song that anybody writes is never their best one, Haruka thinks. Makoto will get better, Haruka knows he will. Haruka nods slowly at Makoto, transferring the thought from his own head into Makoto’s.

“ _Ahh, I can’t!_ ” Nagisa whines, putting both his drumsticks and his head down. Makoto looks up at the two in front of them. Rin wears a mildly annoyed look, shooting it directly at Nagisa. “I can’t do it…”

“Yes you can.” Rin snaps, baring his teeth at Nagisa. He doesn’t want to be hard on him, but at the same time he wants to get it into Nagisa’s head that this is what he signed up for. “What happened to your energy? You need to put more into the transition between the bridge and the chorus. We’ll start from the bridge again, ready?”

Rin lifts his hands again to start clapping, but Nagisa groans, and lowers his head onto one of the tom drums. Rin lifts an eyebrow at the action. Maybe he _is_ being a little hard on him…

“...You can have a break if you want.” Rin says a little quietly, looking away for a moment, but he suddenly looks back up in surprise when Nagisa flies up and out of his seat, and over to the other side of the room.

“ _Yay!_ ” He cheers, rushing over towards his bag and taking out a small carton of strawberry milk. He smiles as he takes a seat  in front of Makoto, back towards Rin. Rin himself blinks slowly in surprise, before grumpily frowning and moving over towards the table.

“Makoto, can we work on your part once we’ve finished?” Rin asks, once he joins them at the table. Makoto smiles up at him and nods. “And what are all these scrunched up pieces?” Rin reaches out to grab one to read, but Makoto snatches it before he’s able to touch it. He looks back at Makoto a little surprised.

“Ah, they’re nothing. I was trying to put together some more lyrics, but then Haru reminded me that I should be focusing on this song. It’s best to start one, finish it, and then start anew, right?”

“Yeah… How come you were writing new lyrics?” Rin questions him, sitting down besides Makoto who takes all of the ripped and crumples pieces of paper and places them protectively near to him before turning to answer Rin.

“Well, I was telling Haru that maybe it would be a-”

“He doesn’t want to sing these lyrics to Sousuke.” Haruka buts in, telling the truth rather than allowing Makoto to lie to Rin. Makoto freezes, wearing an uncomfortable smile on his face.

“Oh…” Rin looks up at Haruka, and then to Makoto. Makoto reaches up to itch behind his ear comically. “Why not?”

“Well… They’re a little embarrassing, right?” Makoto replies, hoping that Rin doesn’t notice the tiny blush creeping up on his cheeks. Makoto knows that Rin is clever, and at this point, anything will give away his little crush. Rin shakes his head. Makoto feels himself shrivelling up under Rin’s stare. Does he really have to tell him?

“Not really. They’re written very… Maturely.” Rin nods happily at him. He doesn’t seem to pick up anything yet. Thank God.

“I appreciate that, Rin.” Makoto smiles gently, turning to look down at the closed notebook on the table. He picks it up, as well as the pieces of paper, and shoves them into his bag.

Haruka looks at him oddly. _Why did he put the no-good pieces in there?_

“So, I wanted to talk to you about your part. Since you wrote it, you kinda have the direction of the song and where you want it to go.” Rin looks up at Makoto with a look of hope on his face. “I was thinking, maybe we could go over it, and play it with our parts, because we haven’t tried that yet. We don’t even know if it sounds good put together yet.” Rin laughs softly.

“That’s fine, Rin. You didn’t have to ask. You’re the club president, anyway.” Makoto nods with a sweet grin. That makes Rin blush a little. He turns his head away from him for a moment, before looking bat ho him.

“Yeah…” Rin mutters.

“The sheet.” Haruka says bluntly, putting a confused look on everyone’s faces.

“...Huh? What sheet?” Rin replies, cocking an eyebrow at Haruka. He doesn’t remember anything about a sheet… Maybe it was a sheet about the song, or a sheet that had their parts written on it. Rin looks back to Haruka, who doesn’t seem to be giving them any answers. He then looks to Makoto, who sits in thought for a moment before his eyes widen. Rin raises his eyebrows.

“ _The sign-up sheet!_ ” Makoto yelps in panic, he turns to Rin suddenly, scaring him a little, as he too remembers. “Rin, you still have it?”

Rin suddenly makes a grab for his bag, which is behind his seat, and opens it up. The sign-up sheet is still there, staring right back at him. He stares back at it for a minute or so before pulling it out of his bag and setting it down on the table.

“Shit… I totally forgot this was here.” Rin mumbles to himself. He can feel everybody at the table glaring daggers at him for not reminding him to hand it in. Besides, it’s still unfinished. Sousuke’s name isn’t even on it. “Let’s get this done, and handed in, right?”  
  
“Right!” Nagisa cheers. Rin nods, as Makoto hands him his pen to complete the form.

“We can fill in the band’s name now. Are we all agreeing on ‘Ever Blue’?” Rin asks, looking up to everyone. Makoto and Haruka nod, so Rin turns to write ‘Ever Blue’ in the small space given. Nagisa hums in thought for a moment, putting a frown on Haruka’s face.

“I think it’s missing something.” Nagisa hums. Makoto tilts his head at him. He was positive that he liked it the other day… Nagisa suddenly smiles brightly, and takes the pen from Rin’s hand. “That’s it!”

The other three watch curiously as Nagisa turns the paper around to face him, and puts a ‘!’ at the end.

“Now it’s Ever Blue!” Nagisa beams. Rin shakes his head.

“That didn’t do much…”

“You’re not seeing it, Rin-chan.” Nagisa groans, looking between the three of them. “It looks a little more exciting and happier now. You have to shout it out!” Nagisa says, and then proceeds to call out the band’s name. “ _Ever Blue!_ ” Makoto smiles sweetly at him.

“That’s understandable…” Rin mutters. Haruka nods from his seat, watching as Rin turns the paper back around.

“Next, we should probably put Sousuke’s name down, too.” Rin notes, putting down said boy’s name on the paper. Nagisa frowns as he doesn’t see Rei’s name being jotted down.

“Will I ever get to see Sou-chan?” He whines. Rin glances up at Nagisa at the sudden nickname he’s given Sousuke, who he actually hasn’t met.

“Sure. He’s only here of a morning though.” Rin smiles at Nagisa, who giggles a little excitedly.

“Yahoo! Then, can I come tomorrow morning?” Nagisa asks, leaning over across the table. Nagisa’s question and movements make Makoto a little anxious. His eyes widen for a second before he sheepishly looks off to the side.

“I… I’d prefer it if my lessons with Sousuke were private, Nagisa…” Makoto admits innocently, drawing little shapes on the desk with his finger. Nagisa whines, and even Rin raises an eyebrow.

“You can come and meet him at lunch, Nagisa. We sit up on the roof.” Rin says, trying to lift Nagisa’s spirits.

“Really? Yay! I’ll be there tomorrow then, definitely!” Nagisa cheers. Rin smiles back at him, wincing on the inside. He can only imagine how it’ll go down. Sousuke and Nagisa are two completely different people.

Rin then proceeds to fill out the rest of the things that can now be filled in, and checks over them once, and then twice.

“I think that’s it.” Rin nods, taking the paper into his hands and looks up at it. The others nod too, and stand from their seats. “Let’s go hand it in!”

He doesn’t know why all of them follow him out of the club room. Surely he could have just went by himself, but the others decide to go with him. Rin doesn’t complain.

“Does this mean we haven’t actually been a club the entire time?” Makoto pipes up from behind Rin. Rin blinks slow as if he has just realised this himself.

“ _Eheheh_ … _I think so_.” He laughs a little nervously. He can feel all three of them glaring at him again. Oops.

It’s a bit of a walk from their club room to the teaching office. Their room is on one side of the building, whilst the teaching office is on the other side.

“When we get back to the club room, it’s back to practice, right?” Nagisa says after a small silence, lifting Rin’s mood a little bit. At least he’s enthusiastic about it.

“Right. We can work on Makoto’s part, and then yours, and then put them all together.” Rin smiles back at Nagisa, who beams up at him.

“It’s a lot of hard work, being in our club, huh?” Makoto turns to look at Haruka after watching the others converse. Haruka shrugs.

“I guess…” Haruka muses. He walks a little slow with Makoto behind the other two, who continue to talk about the song. “But, it’s okay.”

Makoto smiles at that. He remembers back to the time when Haruka was so reluctant against joining. Even though it wasn’t even that long ago, it still makes him happy.

“Rin-chan, you’re so tough on me…” Nagisa whines, sulking and putting his head down.

“ _Hah!?_ I’m not tough, I’m just doing my job.” Rin argues back, sharply turning his head to Nagisa.

“So tough…” Nagisa groans, earning a small growl from Rin.

“Hey, you’d better-”

When they come down towards the main hall, Nagisa and Rin become quiet again. Haruka raises an eyebrow at them. And then realises why when they stop walking.

There is a lovely sound coming from the auditorium, a sound of a chorus of voices singing peacefully, angelically. The voices are soft, as is the piano that guides them. They sing something slow, and relatively happy. In fact, it’s a little like Makoto’s song.

With small footsteps, they slowly near closer to the room. None of them question anything, as they’re all a little eager to hear more of the song. Makoto smiles to himself. This is some good inspiration for his song. Maybe he should soften it out a little more. Not one of them dare to get close to the windows and openly watch. It’s a little rude. Even Nagisa stays put besides Rin.

But they all know who’s behind it. The composing team. Which includes Rei, one of their trial members. Who should definitely be in their club. If he’s the genius behind these voices, then he should be the genius behind them all.

What they don’t expect, is for the auditorium door to suddenly open, making the voices louder, and making the four of them freeze. Not one of them move as a tall figure makes himself known by stepping out and closing the door.

“...Rei-chan?” Nagisa says, watching as Rei himself turns to them a little surprised. He wears his blazer and his bag strapped to him. Is he leaving already?

“You guys…” He says a little quietly. He clears his throat before turning to them, back straight, with a soft look on his face. For some reason, he looks a little saddened. He then looks down towards the floor, before lifting his head back up and looking serious. He looks at Haruka in particular. “Nanase-senpai… I want to be like you.”

Haruka looks back at him, not a single expression on his face.

“What do you mean?”

“I want that kind of freedom that you have. The freedom to make anything sound beautiful, without making others question you at all.” Rei replies, looking down at Haruka a little sadly.

“It’s not freedom. I’m just playing.” Haruka says back, straight-faced. Rei looks back at him a little dumbfounded, before shaking his head.

“Anyway, I was on my way over to the Music club room.” Rei continues, looking away for a moment before looking back up at them. They all look a little bewildered. “I would like to formally,” Rei begins, taking a deep breath and then bowing before them. “Join the Music club.”

Nagisa smiles brightly, beaming up at him.

“What? Really?” Nagisa cheers, clenching his fists and bringing them up to his face in excitement.

“If you want to join, then go ahead.” Haruka replies, turning his face.

“Then it’s sorted!” Makoto smiles.

“Alright!” Rin cheers, too, he watches a little surprisingly as Nagisa takes the sheet from Rin’s hands and takes a pen out from his pocket. He dashes over to the nearest wall, takes the lid off of the pen, and smiles as he puts Rei’s name down on the list, too.

“I knew you could move him, Haru-chan!” Nagisa sings, with his back turned to them all. Rin chuckles as he puts an arm on Haruka’s shoulder, and smirks at him. Haruka keeps his head turned away.

“I didn’t do much…” He mumbles.

“However, you were the one who initially invited me to join.” Rei says directly to Nagisa as the smaller turns back around.. “Therefore I expect you to take responsibility.” He says, quickly looking away with a small blush.

Nagisa’s eyes widen and sparkle. He then lets out a glorious laugh, and moves to jump at Rei.

“You can count on me!” He laughs, throwing his arms around their newest member, giggling endlessly as the others watch.

“Hey! Watch it! _Nagisa-kun, you’re being rough again!_ ”

\---

“We got a new member yesterday…” Makoto says, starting off his and Sousuke’s morning conversation. Sousuke’s ears perk up, and he looks up at Makoto across the room, setting down his blazer and bags.

“Really?” Sousuke replies, mildly interested. He sits at the table under the window, unknowingly sitting in Makoto’s usual seat. “What do they do?”

“Well, they don’t sing or play anything…” Makoto begins, fumbling about with his blazer. His lyrics are in that pocket. “But they compose.”

“So… They write lyrics, or songs?” Sousuke asks, now he’s curious.

“I’m not too sure…” Makoto mumbles. “But, I’m glad we have him now. It’ll be a lot easier to write songs together instead of by myself.”

“Yeah. Come sit over here.” Sousuke asks him, which surprises him a little. Makoto looks back at him over his shoulder.

“We aren’t practising at the piano today?” That’s odd. Why isn’t Sousuke eager to start practice? They don’t really have much time left…

“No. I told you we were going to work on your song.” Sousuke nods sharply at him. Oh, right… His song. Makoto inwardly gulps as he transfers his lyrics from his blazer pocket to his shirt pocket.

Makoto turns and makes his way over to the table, trying not to look shy, and pulls out the seat facing him.

“On this side…” Sousuke mutters, looking at the seat next to him.

“Ah…” Makoto nods, and pushes the seat back under. He moves around the table and takes Rin’s seat next to Sousuke quietly.

“Well?” Sousuke looks up at him expectantly. Makoto tilts his head. “The lyrics… We don’t have long, y’know.”

Makoto makes a small noise of surprise, before laughing a little softly and taking the lyrics out of his pocket. He puts it down on the table, and then unfolds it quickly, looking away. This is the part where he wants to cry.

Sousuke is silent as he takes the paper from the table, and looks over the words that are written on it. Makoto’s handwriting is clear to read, and quite neat. Not as neat as Rin’s, but a close second.

Makoto feels himself burning hotter and hotter the longer that Sousuke drags out the silence. There’s no point in even hiding the blush that slowly grows across his cheeks. It’s too impossible to hide. Hopefully Sousuke will think nothing of it. Which too, is impossible, as Makoto’s face is giving far too much away.

He can’t believe that Sousuke is sat less than a meter away from him, reading a song that is written about himself. This isn’t what he wanted. He should have just ignored what Haruka had said to him, and wrote something new.

Whilst he painstakingly waits for Sousuke to finish, or even make a comment, he fiddles with his fingers under the desk. But nothing happens. The silence is deafening him. He’s far too scared to look over at him, he doesn’t want to see his face.

Why hasn’t Sousuke said anything yet? He hasn’t even written anything after the first chorus. It’s literally one verse, a bridge and a chorus. There’s nothing else to read. Sousuke can’t be that slow at reading, can he? Makoto sits for a short moment longer before looking over at Sousuke in the corner of his eye. Who is staring directly at him. Makoto blinks for a moment before slowly turning his head to look back at him. Sousuke looks a little concerned.

_Oh no._

“...Are you alright?” Sousuke asks him, and Makoto wants to immediately curl up and be left alone. He can’t tell if Sousuke is asking him personally if he’s alright, or if that’s just his insult of a reaction to Makoto’s lyrics. One way or another, Makoto still wants to disappear.

“Me? I’m fine.” Makoto shakes his head with a quivering smile. He loses all composure when Sousuke lets out a small laugh. There was once a time when he thought those lyrics were alright.

“Your face is bright red.” Sousuke points out. “I take it you don’t like it that much despite writing them yourself, huh.” He says, hitting the nail on the head. Makoto shakes his head.

“They’re a little embarrassing, I know…” Makoto looks back to him slowly, laughing a little nervously.

“They’re sweet.” Sousuke shrugs, taking a little bit of pressure off of Makoto’s shoulders, and putting a small surprised expression on his face. Sousuke turns to look down at the lyrics on the table. “Sickeningly sweet.” He mutters. Oh, there it is.

“Ahahah… I see what you mean. Thank you, I guess.” Makoto shrugs back, finding a small smile playing on his lips. He feels much better than he expected, despite not getting the full approval from Sousuke.

“I wonder who it’s about.” Sousuke says simply with a small smirk. Makoto’s eyes widen drastically. Sousuke looks to him when Makoto doesn’t say anything back. “Anyway, do you-”

“ _I-I, they’re not about anybody!_ I looked it up on the internet, and it said that a love song is the easiest thing to write, so I tried to imagine what it would be like.” Makoto nods enthusiastically as he explains to Sousuke, who looks a little taken aback by Makoto’s sudden explanation.

“Right… So as I was going to say,” Sousuke clears his throat. “Let’s hear what you’ve got for it. You have to a tune for it, right?” Sousuke asks him. Makoto waits a moment before nodding slowly. He’s not entirely convinced that Sousuke believes his little excuse.

There’s _no way_ in Hell he’s telling him the truth.

“Yes. I um, played this part on my piano.” Makoto nods slowly. “I can’t exactly sing it, as it’s quite high.”

“Then work on it. Bring it down a key or two, so that you can.” Sousuke replies simply, looking at Makoto a little seriously.

“I suppose I could do that…” Makoto mumbles, before thinking for a moment. “But then, if I brought it down a key or two, the others would have to bring down their parts…”

“So? They can’t play it and have you struggle at the same time. If they want it to sound good, then all of it has to sound good.” Sousuke says, a little stupidly. Makoto knows this, of course.

“That’s true.” Makoto gives him a small smile. Sousuke looks at him oddly for a second before turning back to the table, and taking the lyrics.

Why is Makoto so smiley all the time? It’s not that Sousuke wants him to stop, but he doesn’t know why, or what’s making him so happy. It’s like he can’t take any discipline, like there’s always a positive.

Sousuke wishes he could think like that.

“So… You good with acapella?” He asks him after having his little thoughts. Makoto looks a little uncomfortable, looking off to the side and fiddling with his hands again cutely. “First off, take a drink. And stand up. You can’t sing good when you’re sitting down.”

Makoto glances back at him a little confusedly.

“Sure…” He nods, and stands up to fetch his water bottle from his bag. He retrieves it, takes a sip before setting it down on the table. He steps back from the table and stands back straight and head up, like Sousuke had told him yesterday.

Sousuke watches as Makoto continues to rub his knuckles and compress his lips. He stares above Sousuke’s head out of the window, looking a little scared. He must be incredibly nervous...

“If it helps, turn around so I can’t see you, and you can’t see me.” Sousuke notes, speaking a little louder to get his attention. “Relax.” Sousuke says calmly. Makoto doesn’t say a word as he nods and turns, facing the drum kit. He looks down at the square patch of sun on the floor, coming from the window to his right.

Sousuke looks him over, looking for any shaking or hunched shoulders. He doesn’t see anything now that he’s reminded him to relax.

“Do you want me to count you in?” Sousuke asks. Makoto shakes his head. “Alright… Well, whenever you’re ready.” Sousuke notes, looking down at the lyrics in his lap, rather than up at Makoto.

There’s a short pause, before he hears Makoto inhale deeply.

_Relax, Makoto. He can’t see you, and you can’t see him. Just pretend that he isn’t here, it’s just you, you’re by yourself._

Sousuke waits patiently for Makoto to open his mouth, but he hears him exhaling. He thinks for a moment that Makoto is never going to sing, but then, he hears a quick inhale.

 _“A thousand diamonds,  
_ _Fall from the skies,  
_ _I'm getting tired,_  
But I can't seem to close my eyes,”

Makoto sings as softly as he can, he’s a little shaky since he realises that he hasn’t brought it down a key like Sousuke suggested. He closes his eyes and imagines that he truly is by himself. He imagines that his little lie is true. This isn’t about anybody.

 _“In a few hours,  
_ _Morning will call,  
_ _I'm losing sleep_  
And my head wants to hit the wall,”

Sousuke doesn’t raise his head at Makoto’s voice. He keeps his promise and keeps his head down, reading the lyrics as Makoto sings them to him. The tune he sings is slow, and smooth. There’s that soft and gentle Makoto he was talking to the other day.

 _“I'm constantly finding,  
_ _You on my mind,  
_ _I toss and I turn,_  
When I try to unwind,”

Sousuke notices a small change in key, meaning this must be the bridge. He begins to nod in time with the silent beat that Makoto gives him.

 _“The darkened skies,  
_ _Are turning blue,  
_ _I haven't slept,  
_ _Because of you,_  
I wonder how many hours you owe me,”

Makoto takes a small breather, and opens his eyes as he prepares himself for the chorus. Again, he hasn’t changed the key, so this is going to be a little bit of challenge for him. He can already feel his roughness coming through a little, which he tries to put off as he sings;

 _“So stop stop,  
_ _Taking over my thoughts,  
_ _All of my time that you've bought,  
_ _You could never pay me back,  
_ _No,_  
 _You could never pay me back,_ ”

Sousuke can’t help it. He taps his foot against the wooden leg of the chair, reminding Makoto that there is somebody else in the room with him. Makoto’s voice isn’t at his best right now, it’s a little overcome by nerves, but he’s trying which is what matters. Of course there’s room to improve.

 _“And I keep,  
_ _Losing track of my mind,  
_ _Spare time is getting hard to find,  
_ _You could never pay me back,  
_ _No,_  
You could never pay me back,”

Makoto pushes through the last of his lyrics, feeling his nerves attempting to tear him down. He clenches his fists and holds one of his hands to his stomach. The tapping reminds him of Haruka more than it does of Sousuke. So that’s what he pretends to do. He pretends that his best friends are behind him, and not his crush.

 _“And you can try,  
_ _You can try,  
_ _You can try,_  
But you're not a millionaire,”

There’s a silence once Makoto finishes. He doesn’t hear Sousuke applaud, he wasn’t expecting him too, but it would have been nice. He feels like he did an alright job of that. And to sing in front of none other than the boy that his song is about, too.

_Beep!_

Makoto’s eyes widen and he suddenly turns around quickly, almost giving himself whiplash, and almost faints when he sees Sousuke holding a phone sneakily under the table.

“ _Were you recording me!?_ ” Makoto shrieks. Sousuke doesn’t jump at the sudden cry.

“Well, I was mainly focusing on your voice. I want to focus on the music and keys, too. So I recorded it so that I can listen to it again, and help you to work on it when you’re not here.” Sousuke shrugs. He doesn’t see a problem with it, but Makoto does. “Let’s be honest. You won’t sing it again for me.”

Makoto goes to argue back, but then sees Sousuke’s point. He’s right. That was nerve-wracking for him. But he’s proud of himself for being able to do it nonetheless. Sousuke nods up at him slowly as if he were agreeing with Makoto.

“I guess you’re right…” Makoto muses, staring at his feet. Sousuke is tempted not to feel bad for him. The poor boy was obviously trying some kind of method that worked to keep his nerves down.

“Anyway, good work today.” Sousuke says, looking off to the side. He wouldn’t say that he’s a very polite person, so compliments are a little awkward for him. He doesn’t want to make Makoto feel like he’s being all buddy-buddy with him again.

Makoto smiles happily at him, giving him his trademark smile, and tilting his head at Sousuke, as Sousuke himself moves to stand from his seat, pocketing his phone.

Makoto’s smile fades completely when he sees Sousuke pocketing his lyrics, too.

“I’m taking your lyrics with me, so that I can help you out with the mood and feel of your song. I know that I’m not a full member of your club, and changing the song completely would be a little asshole-ish of me, but I want to do my part.” Sousuke nods at him curtly, before taking his bag. “I can explain to Rin and Nanase at lunch.” He finishes, and heads on out, not waiting for Makoto’s reply, or Makoto himself.

For the second morning in a row, Makoto is left speechless standing in the club room, alone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY THERES THE SONG KINDA ITS KINDA GAY JOKES ITS ALL THE HOMO ITS 3AM AGAIN
> 
> On that note, I've decided to draw a couple of scenes. I'm going to post them all at like different times if that makes sense. If you have any more requests, go ahead!
> 
> //when i find the wire that connects the tablet to my laptop what i cant find im really sad tf  
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions on my blog! 
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	20. Wonder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto believed his weekend was going to be one weekend of hell. However, someone is quick to change that.
> 
> s/o my shit chapter titles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yAY FOR DECENT UPDATES
> 
> it's 8am and i have had 0 sleep writing this so i hope it's payed off lmao, this chapter is actually one of my faves so far, so i hope you all love it!!

Makoto lies on his bed, clad in his sweatpants and a loose shirt. It’s Saturday night, meaning that he doesn’t have school tomorrow, nor did he go today, and he won’t see or hear from Sousuke until then. Unless he decides to text him, which he hasn’t done yet. 

He’s spent the whole day with his family, helping out around the house, and then playing with his siblings. Obviously, he met Rin and Haruka for their daily jog, which included a conversation about Makoto and Sousuke’s vocal training. Makoto played it off cool, which luckily they believed. However, he did get a few odd looks from Haruka. Hopefully he hasn’t sussed anything out...

To be fair, he think’s he’s going to have to ask Rei to help him out with the rest of the lyrics, if he composes them that is. If Rei doesn’t compose lyrics, or just plain doesn’t like them, then Rin is his last option. He doesn’t think he can write the rest by himself now that Sousuke has heard them. He is the inspiration behind the song, and it’s not hard to point out your own characteristics.

Makoto groans, and turns his body around so that his face is buried into his pillow. Despite Sousuke’s harsh training, he finds himself lying happily in bed at the end of the day. But maybe not tonight. Makoto doesn’t know if he’ll cope knowing that Sousuke has his lyrics in his hands. Lyrics that are addressed to  _ him. _ And he thought they were alright, too.

He tells himself this again, and again, but he still can’t believe it.

What he still doesn’t get, is why Sousuke chose  _ him  _ in the first place. And why he’s so eager to help him out. Sure, he said he was doing it for Rin’s sake, but is that really it? He wishes it were something more, but he supposes for now it never will be. Sousuke is kind of a mystery. And Makoto wants to solve it.

_Ugh_. Makoto cringes to himself at the thought as he digs his face deeper into the pillow. It sounds just as cliche as everything he’s written about him already.

Suddenly, his phone buzzes on his desk, across the room. Makoto lifts his head slowly and looks over at the light coming from the other side of the room. He contemplates staying comfortable in his position for a moment, before deciding against it and hauling himself up, walking over to it tiredly.

He takes the phone from the desk, unplugs it and flips it open. He looks down at the screen a little confusedly when he sees two text messages. Both from an unknown number.

_ [makoto] _

_ [are you awake] _

Makoto feels a little scared, if he’s not going to lie. They type kind of like Haruka, not punctuated and no capitalised words or letters. He ponders for a moment, before bringing his phone back to bed.

There’s a possibility that it’s Sousuke, but Makoto expects that Sousuke would text a little more formally than this. He texts back a simple reply before waiting again.

_ [Yes. Who is this?] _

He stares down at the screen, waiting a little longer, before it buzzes again, and puts a warm smile on his face.

_ [sousuke] _

Makoto gets back into his comfortable position, holding his phone above him as texts him back. Wait, why is Sousuke awake at this time? Makoto tilts his head to look back at the digital clock above his bed on the headstand. 23:51 PM.

_ [What are you doing awake at this time, Sousuke? It’s not good for your health to be up late.] _

He can’t help but let that be his reply. He’s a very caring person, and doesn’t want Sousuke getting sick. If he did, he wouldn’t be able to practice with him. And Makoto doesn’t want to miss a single day.

_ [hypocritical. why are you up?] _

Makoto realises that Sousuke has a point. Why is he awake, anyway? Whilst he tries to think of a suitable reason that doesn’t include Sousuke, he saves said boy to his contacts. The second he’s finished, another text comes through.

_ [Sousuke: thinking about who you wrote the song about?] _

Makoto looks down at the screen mortified. Oh dear Lord, no. He hasn’t… Figured it out, has he? No, he can’t. He would have called him out on it, by now. Makoto chews the inside of his lip as he hastily types back.

_ [Sousuke!!]  _

He hastily types back, hoping that Sousuke doesn’t mistake his crying message as a confession. Makoto closes his phone and groans quietly as he looks up at the ceiling.

_ [Sousuke: lmao. sure your little admirer will appreciate it] _

Makoto almost cries out when he flips the screen back up. 

_ [I told you, it isn’t about anybody!] _

Sousuke must be a quick typer, as he replies to his messages pretty quickly.

_ [Sousuke: anyway. you know how to get to samezuka right] _

Makoto tilts his head a little too quickly when he reads over the message for a second time, completely ignoring the fact that Sousuke has brushed off Makoto’s argument. Why does Sousuke want to know  _ that _ ?

_ [Train, of course! Why do you want to know that, Sousuke?] _

Makoto’s eyes widen when his reply comes through a little after two minutes.

_ [Sousuke: you don’t have club at the weekend. we should practice at the weekend, stop you wasting time.] _

Makoto gives his phone a little grumpy stare for a moment. Makoto never wastes his time at the weekend, but if that’s not what Sousuke wants to believe, then so be it.That again, Sousuke wants to practice at the weekend.

_ [I’m never wasting time, Sousuke. Where can we practice?] _

He waits patiently as Sousuke types. He can feel his eyelids getting a little heavy, but to be honest he’d rather make a little date with Sousuke than sleep right now.

_ [Sousuke: why do you think i asked you if you know how to get to samezuka?] _

Makoto places a palm to his face. Of course that’s why he asked him. How could he be so dumb? He wants Makoto to come and see him in Samezuka.  _ Wait, what? _

_ [Ahaha, sorry! I'm tired. Of course, Sousuke. I’d love to practice more!] _

He sends the text back with a small smile on his face. Looks like he  _ will _ be going to sleep with a smile on his face tonight. Sousuke wants to practice with him more, which means he gets to spend more than twenty minutes with him. He smiles more at the thought.

_ [Sousuke: cool. see you tomorrow] _

Makoto suddenly isn’t smiling anymore.  _ Tomorrow? So soon? _ Then again, he is staying over at Rin’s the saturday after… So tomorrow would be a good time to start. Makoto nods to himself, reminding himself to set an alarm before sleeping.

_ [Sure. You don’t mind me asking for your address?] _

_ [Sousuke: get off at the last stop. meet you there at 11. no later.] _

Makoto sends him back another message back, not feeling the need to set himself an alarm as he wakes up quite early anyway. He puts his phone back down on his bedside table, and lifts his cover up and over himself.

He wasn’t expecting this to all happen so quickly tonight, but he’s extremely happy nonetheless.

_ [See you there. Goodnight Sousuke~] _

Sousuke doesn't reply.

\---

“Onii-chan, you look all happy.” Ran comments at the table at breakfast. Makoto lifts his head and gives his little sister a smile.

“I am happy, Ran.” Makoto comments. His father lowers his papers a little and peeps at his son from over the rim of his glasses, wearing a small smile of his own. “I’m going to one of my friend’s house today.”

Makoto’s father lowers the papers completely, catching Makoto’s attention. Makoto gives him a small nervous giggle before looking up at him apologetically.

“I was about to tell you. Sorry, dad.” Makoto says a little shyly. His father shakes his head with a small grin.

“It’s fine, Makoto. You did enough for us yesterday. Are you going over to visit Haruka today?” He asks, still wearing his smile. Makoto blinks at him a little surprised before remembering that his father, nor anybody else in his family is aware of who Sousuke is. This is going to be a little awkward.

“N-no. I'm going to a new friend’s house. He’s a part of the Music club, too.” Makoto looks up at him a little hopefully. 

His father nods slowly, looking at him a little surprised.

“It's nice to hear you're making new friends, Makoto.” His mother says sweetly, poking her head out from the little window from their kitchen through to their dining room. She's telling the truth. Makoto has always been glued to Haruka and Rin ever since he was younger. “Will you be coming home tonight?”

Makoto smiles back at his mother, nodding. At least they aren't questioning him about it.

“Yeah, we're not that close yet.” Makoto chuckles. His dad joins in a little at that, before clearing his throat.

“Are Haruka-san and Rin-san going with you?” His father asks. Ah, he knew this would come up.

“Ahaha, no. It's just me going.” Makoto shakes his head with another small chuckle. His father tilts his head a little.

“Just the two of you?” He says, a little oddly. Makoto nods quickly, feeling a little panicked. He has to remind himself that his parents are unaware of his sexuality, and that they won't suspect a thing…

“What? Aren't you friends with Haru-chan and Rin-chan anymore?” Ren pipes up suddenly, getting a little teary eyed. Makoto laughs softly, shaking his head softly.

“Of course I'm still friends with them, Ren. We’re all still best friends. I'm going to my new friend’s house to… Well, I'm being coached.” Makoto admits slowly to his younger sibling in hopes that he understands.

“Coached?” Both of his parents say, both of them looking a little confused. Makoto looks down at his breakfast, letting out a small nervous hum before opening his mouth.

“Mm. He's coaching me to sing…” Makoto says, a little shyly. He hears both his mother and father make relieved noises, followed by happy chuckles.

“So, you're the singer of the band?” His father says with a broad smile, placing his paper down on the table, and resting his elbows on top of it.

“Eheh… Yeah.” Makoto nods, looking away from him with a tiny blush. He hears his father’s low chuckle again, and his blush deepens. His little siblings state up at him in wonder.

“That's wonderful, Makoto. That's also something I never once expected. I don't think me or your mother have heard you sing before.” His father continues, sneakily pointing out the blush to everybody. Makoto wishes it would hurry up and be time for him to leave again.

“I bet you sound great, honey.” His mother smiles again, bringing out a pan full of eggs. “Who wants seconds?”

Each one of the Tachibana family raise their hands. 

As his mother dishes out the seconds, Ren looks up to his big brother again, thinking for a second.

“Onii-chan, how come you've never sung for us before?” Ren says, sounding a little saddened. Ran nods furiously.

“Yeah, that's not fair! Aren't we important to you?” Ran adds, pouting up at him. Makoto looks a little frightened. He goes to reply to them, but his father beats him to it.

“Now now, you two. Your brother has been uncomfortable with singing since he was your age.” Their father says sternly, giving them a small discipline. The two siblings groan and lower their heads.

“Sorry…” They both chime.

“It's okay.” Makoto smiles at them, before thanking his mother for the seconds she adds into his bowl.

“I remember at your piano lessons, when we came to pick you up, your teacher always spoke to us afterward. You wouldn't sing at all. Even at your grading, she said you turned into a shivering mess when you finally had to do it.” His father says, chuckling again. His mother joins in, and his siblings sit and listen to the story intently.

“ _ Dad… _ ” Makoto whines, looking away again. It was true. Even though it was a few notes, he hated singing by himself, just hearing the sound of his own voice back then made him uncomfortable.

“But look at you, now.” His mother says softly, taking the pan back into the kitchen, and popping up in the little window again. “We're proud of you, Makoto.”

Makoto smiles at that. It's been a little while since he’s heard them say that.

Hopefully they’ll say the same thing when he finally comes out to them.

He suddenly gets the sudden urge to do it now, but he can't. The atmosphere is too happy, plus his siblings are here, and now that they know he’s going to a new friend's house, they'll put the pieces together and figure it out far too quickly.

“Wow, my big brother is the singer in a band!” Ran cheers between mouthfuls of her breakfast. Makoto is tempted to scold her for talking with her mouth full, but he’s far too happy to change the mood.

“And mine, too! He’s my big brother, too!” Ren whines again, making Makoto emit another soft laugh. 

“And you're both my little brother and sister. I'm going to do my best, and make you proud.” Makoto leans down towards them, and gives them a little piece of his own breakfast.

“Yahoo!” They both cheer, but it's more or less because of the fact that they've both just got more food.

“Have fun today, Makoto. And don't work yourself up too hard.” His father says to him gently, speaking to him one on one. Makoto looks back to him a little blankly before smiling at him and nodding softly.

“Sure. Thank you, dad.”

As soon as he finishes eating, he opts to clean the dishes as he has a little time spare. As he’s cleaning, he feels his phone buzzing in his pocket. 

_ [Sousuke: makoto. bring your keyboard.] _

\---

Makoto steps out of the house at precisely twenty past ten, keyboard bagged up on his arm, feeling refreshed and ready to go. It's about a fifteen minute walk from his house towards the train station. He plugs in his earphones into his MP3 player, and begins his walk down towards the station.

He can't help but feel bad as he walks past Rin’s house. He's going to visit his best friend without him. Then again, Sousuke would have asked Rin too, probably. But he would have told him that… Makoto looks up towards Rin’s house, and can't help the little laugh when he sees that Rin’s curtains are still closed.

Haruka’s house is a little further ahead of the path that he follows, meaning he's unaware of whether Haruka is awake or asleep. He’ll text him later.

He can’t feel bad for going to see Sousuke and not telling them. It was all unplanned until last night, and it’s just for training, which if efficient for the band, and everybody in it. They should be proud more than anything else.

Makoto reaches the station three or four songs later. Looking up at the board, the train headed to Samezuka isn't here for another six minutes, which means that his train will probably be here after this next song. He stands back a little, and taps his foot in time with the loud beat that fills his ears.

Quite a lot of people his age would say that metal isn't exactly their forte, but there's something about it that gets Makoto all excited and fired up. It's such an odd genre for someone like him to be into. Makoto agrees with Sousuke’s statement from the other day; he doesn't exactly look like a metal-y type. 

He wonders what genre of music Sousuke is into as he waits for the train to arrive.

When the train does eventually arrive, not exactly on time, Makoto boards it, and finds a seat towards the back of the train, sitting his keyboard down next to him. He keeps his ticket in his pocket to show when the inspector asks him to, so he takes out one of his earphones.

Makoto looks out of the window for the majority of the journey, hoping to gain a little bit of inspiration from the nature around him, which is something that’s never crossed his mind before. 

He looks out at the greenery that passes by in a blur, all different shades of green, both natural and caused by sunlight. Makoto’s favourite colour, is the lime green that appears when the sun shines over long grass fields. The scenery is very beautiful, but it's not giving him any inspiration for anything at all.

He supposes he should just stick to his cliche crush songs.

As the journey continues, Makoto thinks to himself a little more. He wonders if Sousuke listened to his song again last night. It was kinda rude of him to record without his permission, but his reasoning for that was pretty relevant…

It’s a little hard to imagine Sousuke listening to that recording without going red in the face, but he does it nonetheless. He pictures Sousuke, lying down in his room just like he was last night, earphones plugged in and listening. He wonders if Sousuke really liked it, or if he was just saying.

He closes his eyes as he begins to imagine Sousuke singing along with it. How his voice would sound, and how his-

“Excuse me, sir?” A voice calls out next to him, pulling him out of his thoughts. Makoto makes a small noise of surprise before turning to him. He’s dressed in a dark suit, with a blue shirt and dark blue tie. He must be the inspector.

Makoto takes out his ticket and shows him with a small laugh in apology. The inspector smiles back at him, thanks him, before continuing to inspect the tickets of the other passengers.

He lets out a small sigh, before turning to look out of the window again to a newer change of scenery. The skies are clear blue above a more open town space, dotted with small shops and homes. There isn’t any signs of the sea anywhere. Huh? He’s almost there already? How long was he thinking for?

Makoto moves to check his watch on his wrist. 10:54 AM. He’s right on time. There's an announcement that echoes around the train that they’re going to reach Samezuka station in approximately two minutes. He's a little proud of himself for being able to make it at 11 on the dot, as he’s usually a little late for most things. 

Taking the earphone out of his right ear, he turns off the music and wraps the earphones around the device, before tucking it into his pocket and picking up his keyboard. 

He departs from the train, and takes a moment to look around Samezuka station. He doesn’t come here very often, usually comes to Samezuka with his family for the Christmas markets that are here. They’re a lot more exciting than Iwatobi’s, he likes to believe.

Makoto takes a moment to look around at his surroundings; looking up at the old boarded panelled walls of the station, golden brown, and then turning to watch the train he had just boarded leave. Behind the train is a separate track for trains leaving Samezuka, and above that is a huge wall, and staircase, that leads up to the central, into the town. Makoto smiles at the people who pass him by politely. All of them seem to be heading off to work, as they’re dressed smartly, some carrying briefcases, and some wearing uniforms. Samezuka is said to be the more hardworking town between itself and Iwatobi. Samezuka is a lot more louder in that aspect. He wonders if it’s this busy in the summer…

“Makoto.” A voice says lowly, coming from directly behind him. Makoto jumps a little bit in freight, before turning to meet Sousuke’s ever so serious face.

“Good morning, Sousuke.” Makoto greets him back with a happy smile.

He’s dressed a little casually today, something Makoto has never seen. Sousuke dons a light grey hoodie, that has some sort of faded logo printed onto it, accompanied by a pair of dark blue jeans, and a pair of black high-top sneakers. It suits him so well. Makoto tries to not make the fact that he  just checked him out too obvious.

“Let’s go…” Sousuke mumbles a little quietly, noticing the fact that Makoto has brought his keyboard with him before turning to leave the station. Makoto hums happily before following him, walking a little bit behind him, but soon catching up to walk by his side when Sousuke looks back at him over his shoulder.

“So, how far away is your apartment?” Makoto asks once he’s at his side. Sousuke takes a little quiet moment to himself before replying.

“About ten minutes. Eager?” Sousuke replies, turning his head a little in Makoto’s direction. Makoto blinks a little quickly.

“N-no! I’m not rushing you or anything, I was just curious…” Makoto mumbles, looking down at his shoes before lifting his head up a little. “It must be a lot quieter, living on your own.” He adds.

“Eh.” Sousuke shrugs. “If I didn’t have such a loud-ass dog it would be quieter.” He scowls up ahead of them, making Makoto let out a little giggle. Sousuke’s scowl deepens when he hears Makoto’s sweet, melodious laughter for a reason he can’t exactly describe.

“I almost forgot you had a dog.” Makoto smiles up at him.

“She’s not my dog. She’s my Aunt’s dog.” Sousuke reminds him, shaking his head. He can literally  _ hear _ Makoto smiling. “Annoying little shit…”

“You probably love her deep down.” Makoto gives him a sheepish look. He doesn’t believe that Sousuke can be that mean about her. “Does she like meeting strangers?” He asks a little carefully.    
  
Sousuke huffs out loud, shaking his head with his eyes widened a little. Makoto doesn’t know how to take it.

“Loves ‘em. This morning before I came to meet you I took her out. She literally jumps on everybody she meets.” Sousuke retorts a little peeved. Makoto chuckles again at the thought of Sousuke trying to get his little pup under control.

“I don’t mind. I love dogs.” Makoto comments happily. “What kind of dog is she?”

Sousuke’s eyes widen at that. He’s going to look so fucking lame showing his little fluffy pomeranian to Makoto.  _ Not that he was trying to impress him anyway… _

“You’ll see.” Sousuke comments bluntly, before deciding to change the topic so that he doesn’t have to do any explaining. “I listened to your recording again last night…” He says a little quietly.

Makoto blushes lightly. He knew that this would definitely come up today.

“I think you can possibly bring it down a key to suit your voice.” Sousuke notes. Makoto nods silently. Sousuke turns to look over at him. “Not that I don’t like your voice or anything… I can tell you’re struggling a little when you’re trying to hit the higher notes.” Makoto nods again, taking in all of Sousuke’s advice. “When you try and hit them, your voice goes all scratchy and rough. It’s…” Sousuke shakes his head. “You want the song to sound soft, right?”

Makoto looks up to him slowly, thinking to himself in his head. _ It’s  _ what? He was about to say something about his voice. Perhaps it was a compliment? Maybe it wasn’t so nice… He looks up into Sousuke’s eyes for a hint of an answer.

“Makoto?”

“ _ Oh _ , yeah, sorry. Soft is kinda the feeling I want it to have.” Makoto nods a little too enthusiastically. Sousuke blinks at him slowly before looking on up ahead.

“Yeah… We can carry on with this when we get to my apartment. It’s just up ahead.” Sousuke muses, walking ahead a little faster. Makoto stares up at the back of him. That was weird.

\---

The rest of the walk to Sousuke’s apartment is quite silent, both of them don’t say a thing until Sousuke has unlocked the front door. They climb the staircase until they reach Sousuke’s floor, the second. Sousuke himself takes a deep breath as they reach his door, and he takes out his keys again. He can already hear her little feet dancing.

Makoto is completely unaware of this. He looks around the hallways for a moment. Sousuke must be the only person who lives on this floor. None of his neighbours are out.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Sousuke mumbles to Makoto, who then turns back towards the door that Sousuke has managed to get open.

Makoto doesn’t get a chance to respond, as anything he was going to say if cut off short by loud, shrill little barks. He doesn’t even look around Sousuke’s apartment as the door is pushed open. Instead, he chooses to focus on the small black and tan ball of fur going wild at Sousuke’s feet. To be fair, he’s a little speechless. He definitely expected her to be, well, a lot bigger than this.

Sousuke kneels down to stroke her long fur, silencing her yaps and turning them to little cries of happiness. Makoto stands behind Sousuke, putting a hand over his mouth as he silences his little coos. Sousuke himself is feeling a little embarrassed, now that Makoto has seen what he’s been hiding.

“Aww…” Makoto swoons once Sousuke steps aside to allow him inside. Sousuke scoops Chouko up into his hands, holding her as she excitedly wriggles about. It’s clear to see that she wants to meet Sousuke’s new friend, too.

With a small uneasy look, Sousuke lets her go, placing her back down onto the floor, not getting a second to think about his choice before Chouko happily runs towards Makoto, and barks at his feet.

Sousuke watches curiously as Makoto kneels down on one knee to pet her soft fur. The worst part is, Makoto _won’t stop_ _laughing._ It’s more of a giggle than a laugh, but he just seems so happy and cheery now that he’s met this little furball. Sousuke can’t look away, or turn to do something else. Makoto’s sweet laughter has him trapped.

And damn that stupid smile, too.

“Hi!” Makoto chirps as he lets the puppy nuzzle his hand as he pets her. She seems so excitable, and she’s totally adorable, too. She’s stopped barking which is a good thing, up until she’s tired of being petted. 

Makoto makes sudden moves with his index finger, moving it around quickly so that she follows it, and tries to catch it in her tiny paws. He makes some pretty suggestive noises as he watches her bark at the finger, and leap at it. But he doesn’t let her catch it.

Chouko then begins to claw desperately at Makoto’s leg repeatedly, causing Makoto to look down at her. “Ahh, you’re so cute, aren’t you?” He says in the happiest voice he can muster. 

“Chouko, stop scratching him.” Sousuke scolds his pet. Makoto looks up to Sousuke for a moment, before looking back down at the puppy.

“Do you want to be held, Chouko?” Makoto asks her in a cute voice. Chouko begins to do her little dance, as she waits for Makoto to slide his hands under her belly, and lift her up until he too is stood at full height. “There we go.” He says softly, giving her his trademark smile. 

Sousuke finds himself watching Makoto, as his dog begins to put her paws all over Makoto’s face and lick him endlessly. He laughs again.

“Stop! That tickles!” Makoto says through little chuckles. Her little tail waggles between the gaps in his fingers. “Your tongue is like sandpaper!” He manages to get out. Makoto pulls away from her with a final delicate laugh, still holding her. He looks at her face for a second longer as she struggles to get closer to him, before turning to Sousuke, expression fading into one of wonder.

Because Sousuke’s looking back at him, just the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome home sousugay,,, glad u made it
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
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	21. Good Kind of Uncomfortable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto and Sousuke's vocal training goes down pretty... Well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello!!!
> 
> let me first of begin by just saying that I am truly sorry for making you all wait. this week has been rather exhausting for me, so I've been staying up all night just to get some done each night.
> 
> speaking of which, it's currently 8:17am and i havent slept at all so as soon as this is up im conking out lmao bye
> 
> i think y'all are gonna like this one ;;;;)
> 
> thanks to those who have been patient with me.

After a short moment, Chouko begins to wriggle about in Makoto’s hands restlessly. Makoto tears his eyes away from Sousuke’s for a moment to look back at his pet with a warm smile, before placing her safely back down on the ground, bending down to stroke her again.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t put you back down, did I?” Makoto coos once more before standing back up. He slowly looks back up at Sousuke, who’s decided to strip off his hoodie, revealing a thin, plain black t-shirt. It’s simple, but it still makes him look good. Makoto decides in his head that Sousuke suits darker colours.

Sousuke himself turns around after folding up the hoodie and laying it down on the couch, meeting Makoto’s gaze again.

“I didn’t think you’d have this breed of dog, Sousuke.” Makoto chuckles lightly, watching as Chouko dashes off into the kitchen. He’s met with Sousuke’s harsh glare, of course.

“I  _ said _ she’s not my dog…” Sousuke growls, shying away from Makoto a little bit.

“Ahaha… Sorry.” Makoto smiles over at him sheepishly, before standing in place and taking this moment to look around at Sousuke’s apartment. 

His living area is quite wide, not too spacious, but a decent size. He has what literally looks like a corridor for a kitchen, and another little corridor, which  _ is _ actually a corridor this time, that must lead off to his bedroom…

Sousuke’s apartment on a whole smells very… Lemon-y. Not that Makoto was expecting it to smell bad or anything, but even for a student, the apartment smells very fresh. It’s kinda relaxing, in the least.

He’s suddenly distracted by Sousuke clearing his throat. Makoto looks over to him, as he moves to itch at the back of his neck. 

“It’s not that big in here.” Sousuke mutters, noticing that the other boy was mindlessly looking around. “This room here takes up the majority of the apartment.” He shrugs.

“I can kinda tell…” Makoto replies, nodding slowly. 

It’s a little awkward between the two, now. Both of them are aware that they were just gazing at each other, heaven knows why, and now they’re unsure what to do about it.

Makoto thinks for a moment before he can make it a second time, and shakes his head, deciding to glance back at the small pup that now stands on the arm of Sousuke’s L shaped couch.

“Though, she’s a small dog, so this must be alright for her.” Makoto nods, turning to pet her head again, before taking a moment to realise something. He looks up with a small pout. “Sousuke… When you’re at school, is she left here alone?” 

Sousuke looks back at him, seeing a pure look of oncoming sadness. Sousuke doesn’t want to upset him, there has to be a way to stop him from looking like a puppy himself. He quickly searches through the files in his brain for an answer. It takes him a minute to come up with a good lie.

“No. My neighbour upstairs, he comes down to check up on her every now and then, making sure she’s okay, and has enough food and such.” Sousuke nods sharply, inwardly sighing in relief when a small smile breaks out on Makoto’s face again.

“Ah, thank goodness.” Makoto sighs out himself. “I couldn’t imagine how lonely she could get, all alone...” Makoto mumbles, kneeling down to Chouko’s height and tickling under her chin, which she must like a lot as her tail wags happily.

This strikes a certain chord in Sousuke. Makoto has a point; Chouko is still a puppy, and leaving her on her own is kinda cruel. Now that he feels bad, he  _ should _ probably ask one of his neighbours to look after her…

“Yeah.” Sousuke mutters to himself, looking off to the side. 

“Do you ever get lonely here, Sousuke?” Makoto asks, once he’s let Chouko go, silencing himself a little. That sounded so… Suggestive in a way. He silently hopes that Sousuke doesn’t think anything of it.

“Nah. I have Chouko with me, and she’s a handful.” Sousuke replies, still not looking back at him. Makoto glances up, seeing him walking closer. “Anyway, take your coat off. You’re making me uncomfortable.” He says, looking a little annoyed himself.

“Ah, sorry.” Makoto apologetically smiles back at him, moving across to the other side of the room, taking off his coat and looking around a little lost as to where to put it.

“Just drape it over the back of the couch.” Sousuke shrugs. “I haven’t got any hangers, yet.”

Makoto nods and does so, even though Sousuke can’t see him. There’s a lot of questions he has to ask about this place, not including the lack of hangers, but he doesn’t really want to invade Sousuke’s privacy…

“Sousuke… You don’t mind me asking how you pay for your apartment?” Makoto asks, a little hesitantly as he moves to join Sousuke on the other side of the room.

“Why do you want to know? Thinking of moving out yourself?” Sousuke replies instantly, looking back over his shoulder and catching Makoto in mid-surprise.

“N-no! I like it at my home. I was just curious, since you’re only a student and-”

“Who says it’s any of your business?” Sousuke cuts him off again, raising an eyebrow at him and looking a little peeved. Makoto lets out an uneasy laugh and holds his hands up slightly in surrender.

“I’m sorry, I was just curious…” Makoto mutters, watching as Sousuke gives him a curt nod and faces away from him again. 

Makoto’s smile fades into a small frown as he moves towards the further side of the couch, past Sousuke, where his keyboard is situated. He unzips the bag, knowing that Sousuke is waiting patiently behind him. Now that he thinks about it, he’s kinda bent over in front of him…

With that thought in mind, his fingers fumble with the zip in small panic. 

When he’s managed to unzip and take out his keyboard, he turns around to set up the stand for said keyboard, and sees that Sousuke isn’t behind him anymore.

“I got us some drinks.” Sousuke says, appearing at the door frame with two bottles of water in one hand. Ah… He must have moved when Makoto bent over.

“Oh, thank you. It won’t wake me a minute to set up over here.” Makoto smiles at him in appreciation, before remembering something he hadn’t even considered yet. “Ah, does Chouko mind loud noises? Or will we have to put her somewhere?” He tilted his head, trying to keep down an oncoming blush, as yet again, that sounds a little suggestive. Makoto inwardly wishes he’d stop saying those kind of things, he isn’t even thinking about… _ it. _

“I dunno.” Sousuke shrugs as he moves to sit down on the couch, placing his and Makoto’s bottles down on the table in front of them, watching as Makoto sets up. “I don’t usually make any  _ loud noises _ .” He says, and Makoto can literally detect the smirk in his voice. He suddenly feels like curling up on himself again. “She likes my singing, I guess. But I don’t really sing that loud, if that’s what you meant.”

“Yeah…” Makoto mumbles. He sets the stand up, before realising that he doesn't really have much leg space, as the stand is sandwiched between the couch and Sousuke’s table. It would be a little rude to ask him to move the table, considering he’s already asked him something pretty personal already.

Sousuke watches Makoto’s small struggle with setting up his keyboard with mild interest. He watches as Makoto pulls out the keyboard in itself, which is matte black, and quite long. It has a small screen and a lot of buttons, tuners and dials. It looks pretty expensive. 

“Do you play better standing up or sitting down?” Sousuke asks him idly as he watches. Makoto doesn’t look up to him as he replies.

“To be honest, I can concentrate more when I’m sitting down, but I’m more comfortable when I’m stood.” Makoto nods, setting the keyboard down onto the stand. He stands back and looks over it once or twice making sure that it’s properly connected and not loose in any places.

“Well then sit down.” Sousuke commands him, disheartening him a little. It’s not very polite of Sousuke to just outright suggest him do the least comforting option. Seeing this, Sousuke lowers his head and closes his eyes. “You’ll need to concentrate today.”

“Ah… Right.” Makoto nods slowly, moving to sit himself on the couch, behind the keyboard. He waits a little patiently, if Sousuke has any more orders for him. 

“Makoto, can you play and sing at the same time?” Sousuke asks him, suddenly standing up from the further side of the couch, and making his way over to Makoto’s side. Makoto watches him carefully, as he decides to plop himself back down literally half a meter away from him.

“I, I don't know… I've never tried.” Makoto admits, not wanting to meet Sousuke’s gaze, which is probably a little annoyed right now, as he hears Sousuke sighing through his nose.

“Alright.” Sousuke nods slowly, watching as Makoto fiddles about a little timidly with the settings on his keyboard. The screen on the keyboard suddenly illuminates, meaning that it’s switched on, but also very expensive. “How well do you know your song, piano wise?”

“I've played it a lot during practice. And at the Music club, too. So I think I can play it by heart.” Makoto smiles, looking up at him positively. It's at this moment he notices just how close he is to him. Sure, he's been closer than this, but that was in public, and now they're in the comfort of Sousuke’s home. 

“Good. Then, let's hear it.” Sousuke nods again. Tilting his head towards Makoto’s keyboard, closing his eyes. “If you don't want me to watch again, I won't.”

“No, it’s fine this time.” Makoto smiles at him again. Sousuke opens his eye closest to Makoto and looks over him.

“Alright.” He says, and opens his other eye, leaning a little closer towards him. Makoto suddenly regrets saying anything. If Sousuke even dares to move even closer to him, he’s going to start blushing again. 

Makoto plays about with the settings on the screen, retrieving the sound of the keys and testing them out shyly.

“So… This is the sound that I’ve preset for this song. This is how I think it feels…” Makoto mutters, reaching out a hand slowly to play the first chord. He anxiously awaits Sousuke’s reply. 

Sousuke himself wears a more serious expression, He glances down at Makoto’s hand, which looks kinda soft, and frowns slightly.

“Don’t you have anything softer?” Sousuke asks him, watching as Makoto turns to him, a little surprised.

“Well, I mean… Sure, but-”

“Then use it. This is a romance song, right? You want your listeners to really feel the...” Sousuke begins, but then turns really quiet. Makoto smiles lightly at Sousuke who turns his head away from him. It’s kinda cute. He didn’t think that Sousuke could be cute himself. “...The love.”

“If you say so, Sousuke.” Makoto nods, turning back to his keyboard, and setting the sound to a grand piano. They’re pretty romantic right? God, this is starting to feel like a chick-flick cliche… “I’m pretty sure you’re meant to be my vocal coach.”

Sousuke chokes on his saliva at that. What’s with the sudden cockyness? He sits up properly and regains his straight face.

“I… I’m just trying to lead the band in a good direction.” Sousuke admits hurriedly, baring his teeth at Makoto. Makoto chuckles at his response lightly, feeling a little fluttering feeling in his stomach. The feeling disappears though, as soon as he remembers that he’s going to have to sing his embarrassing lyrics again at any minute. Or does the feeling worsen?

Makoto doesn’t respond as he plays the same opening chord again, on a new setting. Sousuke doesn’t say anything, meaning that it’s probably better. 

“Makoto.” Sousuke cuts him off before he can continue. “Have you done any warming up at all this morning? The one we practiced at our first meet.”

Makoto blinks up at him slowly. Oh, right. He hasn’t done any of that at all. In fact, the first time he did any sort of vocal warm up, was the first time he practiced it with Sousuke. Makoto laughs nervously, fiddling with his fingers on his lap, staring down at them.

When Sousuke doesn’t respond, Makoto gradually peeks up at him. Sousuke doesn’t look amused or impressed one bit. Well, why would he be? His eyebrows are lowered and his eyes glare back at Makoto. He wears a glower across his face. All in all, he looks displeased.

“Sorry…” Makoto murmurs. Sousuke sighs quietly through his nose. 

“Then, let’s do that now before anything.” Sousuke instructs him, rather than going in for a straight discipline. “At least tell me you still remember how…” He says under his breath, but Makoto hears him.

Again, Sousuke leads the warm up, with Makoto following. They practice their scales, Makoto pressing the keys in order and awaiting to hear Sousuke’s voice, again and again. He hasn’t even heard him sing an actual word, but he knows that when he does, it’s going to be something amazing.

He suddenly feels that fluttering feeling in his stomach again.

Both of them don’t even realise that they’re trying to avoid eye contact again. Sousuke knows that Makoto is trying to keep his head up again, like he told him to last time. Makoto gazes out of Sousuke’s window, as Sousuke himself looks just past Makoto into his kitchen. 

But as soon as the keyboard emits a sound that’s a little higher than Makoto’s range that Sousuke can manage to sing, Makoto’s confidence falls back down to a mere nothing. This time, Sousuke has to look Makoto in the eye. 

“I think that’s enough for now…” Sousuke notes. “So, show me how the song goes.”

Makoto frowns a little. It must be really disappointing for Sousuke to say that. Maybe, if he practised more he would have been able to hit that note. That’s probably what Sousuke’s thinking right now.

The smaller doesn’t make any noise in reply as he takes Sousuke’s words into consideration and places both hands over his keys, not pressing any of them.

Makoto finally begins to play the piece after a short silence. He plays the chords with one hand, and the melody with the other. Sousuke was right. This grand piano sounds a lot more romantic and softer than what he originally had in mind.

As he plays, he doesn’t think about what Sousuke may be thinking right now. He wonders how Sousuke knows this much about romance songs. Are they his favourite song genre? No, that can’t be. After all, Sousuke doesn’t really look like the romantic type. Although he  _ did _ spend an awful lot of his life around Rin, who knows a little bit more about all things romance than anybody else.

Still, even Rin would have been able to detect that the sound Makoto had preset didn’t really sound romantic enough.

Sousuke on the other hand, can’t take his eyes off of Makoto’s hands. They move up and down the keyboard so elegantly. One hand, his left, moves slowly, pressing the keys rhythmically, stretching into all sorts of positions, but it doesn’t look like it hurts at all. Makoto’s fingers of his other hands play faster than the ones on his left, playing the melody of his lyrics. It’s so mind-boggling to Sousuke how one hand can be so smooth and gentle, whilst the other can be so quick. He tries to follow the melody that Makoto’s right hand plays, singing the lyrics in his head.

When the bridge approaches, it sounds absolutely beautiful. It’s almost as if Sousuke is starting to feel the meaning behind the song itself, even if Makoto says to him countless times that there isn’t one.

Before the song can progress anymore, Sousuke clears his throat, making Makoto jump a little, hitting a few random keys in surprise.

“Makoto, can you start again? I want to try something.” Sousuke asks. Makoto doesn’t see any faults in doing so until Sousuke scoots closer to him. 

“Ah… Sure.” Makoto nods, wiggling his fingers about before getting ready to start playing again.

“Count me in.” Sousuke says simply. Count him in? Count him in what? Makoto thinks for a second what exactly it is what Sousuke wants to try out. It wouldn’t hurt to ask…

“What do you want to try, Sousuke?” Makoto asks him curiously. Sousuke doesn’t wait any moments before replying.

“I want to try singing it.” Sousuke says, nodding confidently.

Makoto freezes. Sousuke wants to sing his song. Sousuke _ knows the lyrics to his song _ . He knows that he recorded it, but just how many times did he listen to it in order to  _ know  _ it? Makoto can’t even picture it. He can’t picture Sousuke listening to the recording on repeat. 

“Oh… Then, I’ll count you in. The lyrics start at the same time the music does, so I’m counting both myself and you in.” Makoto says, but he doesn’t know why he tells him that much. He shakes his head softly, and goes back to his keyboard. What makes him even more anxious is the fact that Sousuke doesn’t even go about taking the lyrics out.

Another thing hits him far too quickly; this is the first time he’s ever going to hear Sousuke sing some actual lyrics.  _ About himself.  _ Before anything else can enter his mind, he takes a deep breath.

“One, two, three, four…” Makoto counts, a little quietly.

“ _ A thousand diamonds, _ ” Sousuke sings, and it completely blows Makoto away. So much that his fingers almost slip. As he tries his hardest to focus on playing the song, he can’t help but focus on Sousuke’s voice just that little bit more. His voice is so smooth, and holds a lot more confidence than Makoto’s voice. As he sings through the rest of the first verse, perfectly, Makoto has to keep inwardly reminding himself not to mess up.

He sings the song just the way Makoto imagined it to be. Perfectly in tune, and timed perfectly with his piano. He even adds his own little twists here and there. Makoto wants to stop himself from sounding so cliche, but he can’t help it. His voice is so clear, and fresh. It literally enlightens Makoto. It even gets a little husky at times; all low, and syrupy, which makes him almost  _ shiver _ .

“ _ The darkened skies are turning blue, I haven't slept because of you,”  _ Sousuke continues to sing, so so peacefully. Makoto just about manages to play the notes correctly. Half of him wonders if Sousuke has any clue at all that this song is about him, and half of him wonders if Sousuke can hit the big note which should be coming up any moment now.

“Makoto.” Sousuke says suddenly, in his usual tone. Makoto almost slips again for a second time.

“A-ah, Yes?” Makoto replies a little timidly, with one thing on his mind. “Why’d you stop?”

“Were you enjoying it?” Sousuke asks him, noticing a small look of surprise on Makoto’s face. He smirks at him, teasingly. Makoto freezes up again under his stare.

“You really have a stunning voice, Sousuke…” Makoto replies after a second or two, shyly nodding and looking back down to his keyboard.  _ That face... _

“I wouldn’t go that far…” Sousuke replies, just as quiet.

“Honestly.” Makoto sits up, smiling happily. “I think your voice could take you far, if you did something with it. You could even-”

“Right.” Sousuke says above Makoto’s voice, butting him out. Makoto jumps a little at Sousuke’s loud response. “I stopped because, I want you to try and sing with me.”

Makoto can feel himself inwardly shaking.

“But-”

“It’s a good way of learning to sing and play at the same time. I’ll start, and when you feel comfortable, join in.” Sousuke says, moving  _ even closer _ . Makoto tries to take in what he’s saying, but he’s more distracted by the fact that Sousuke’s face is not even an arm’s stretch away anymore.

“What if I don’t feel comfortable?” Makoto asks, turning to look at Sousuke with a small pout, but that doesn’t work out, as Sousuke is practically glaring at him again. Makoto lets out a tiny yelp of shock, and a small; “...Sorry.”

“Count me in.” Sousuke says, slowly averting his softening gaze away from Makoto. Makoto watches him for a second more before nodding to himself. 

It’s then an endless repeat of Sousuke starting off, Makoto playing, and joining in when he can, or more likely when he feels like he can. The first time, Makoto doesn’t join in until the very end. He probably could sing along with Sousuke, but it’s the ultimate combination of singing to his crush, with his crush, a song about his crush, is almost too much for him to handle.

Before they try it again, Sousuke takes a break and hands Makoto his bottle of water. Both of them are glad to finally get a bit of a break for two different reasons.

The second time around, Makoto tries to push his thoughts aside and concentrate. But it turns out that actually playing a keyboard and singing at the same time is a bit of a challenge. However, he sings a lot more lines than he did the first time.

It takes Makoto four times to finally get through both verses without messing up or taking any pauses from singing, he’s a little quiet at the bridge, only because he’s running out of breath, to be fair.

Sousuke hasn’t said a word between their practices. He just keeps repeating and repeating the song.  _ Surely, he must be sick of these lovesick lyrics by now… _

But no. They continue to try and power through the song together. Makoto’s voice is a little overshadowed by Sousuke’s, who’s singing is still making Makoto feel a good kind of uncomfortable.

By the sixth time, Makoto feels comfortable enough to try and sing the entire way through. He counts Sousuke in again, of course, and sings with him, as well as playing his keyboard. The keyboard honestly isn’t even a struggle to him anymore. His fingers move on their own accord.

Makoto’s voice in comparison to Sousuke’s when they sing together is very easy to tell apart. Sousuke’s voice is clear, and a lot louder than Makoto’s lower, and shyer tones. Makoto doesn’t let this get to him however, as he powers through the chorus of the song, using all of his stamina to sing at his best, and leave an impression on Sousuke.

“ _ And I keep, losing track of my mind, spare time is getting hard to find,”  _ Makoto can literally feel himself smiling as he reaches the end of the song, he didn’t actually think that Sousuke’s silly little excuse for it actually working, would actually work. “ _ And you can try, you can try,  _ _ you can try,” _

As they sing the last remaining line, Makoto turns his head towards Sousuke, smiling up brilliantly.

“ _ But you’re not a millionaire _ ,” They sing together, softly, looking at each other in content.

Sousuke doesn’t say a single word after that. He keeps his mouth closed, and his eyes focused on Makoto’s shining smile. He looks so happy with himself. Good. He should be. His lips pull upwards at the corner, a truly happy smile. It’s so annoying, but at the same time…

Makoto’s smile fades slightly when he notices Sousuke gazing at him oddly. Or actually, his mouth. Has he got something stuck in his teeth? Oh God, that would be so embarrassing. As the silence drags out, Makoto tries to think of something to say. But nothing comes to mind.

He tilts his head in a little confusion, in order to get his attention, but what he doesn’t realise, is that Sousuke tilts his head the opposite way, and moves  _ even closer _ .

Makoto’s eyes widen when he does. No way. Slowly, his eyes fall half-lidded, and he moves closer himself.

Their lips are literally _a_ _centimeter_ apart. This... Isn't a dream.

Makoto glances down at Sousuke’s lips, now that they’re right there. They look a little thin, maybe a little chapped, too, but Makoto now realises he wants to kiss them  _ so badly _ . And now’s his chance. Sousuke appears to be  _ letting him. _

He closes his eyes fully, and edges forward.

_ Bark! _

In the next couple of frantic seconds, Makoto and Sousuke both find themselves moving so far back, that Makoto almost falls off of the end of the couch, and Sousuke almost knocks over their bottles.

The two stare at each other, both surprised and horrified. More horrified, on Sousuke’s end _. They were literally just about to kiss. _

Sousuke blinks once, but Makoto doesn’t blink at all, as he loses his breath and feels himself heating up, blushing madly. Knowing that Sousuke is looking directly at him. Sousuke doesn’t blush, or heat up.

Instead, he blinks again at Makoto, before gradually looking down at himself, with nothing but pure confusion and  _ anger _ . 

Makoto looks over to Chouko, who put a swift end to Makoto’s wish, poking her head up from behind the coffee table. He’s tempted to scream at her, but he could never do that so such a cute and innocent pup. 

She mustn't like people getting close to Sousuke.

Makoto doesn’t know why right now, but he can’t help but feel a little upset when he glances back at Sousuke, who has his head lowered. Probably in  _ disgust _ .

Before he actually starts showing signs of being upset, Makoto stands from the couch quickly.

“It’s getting late…” Makoto mutters, hurrying over towards the other side of the couch, taking his coat, and his water bottle, of all things, and hurrying towards the door. “Thank you for having me.” He squeaks out, not even bothering to turn around and hear Sousuke’s small;

“Wait.”

But it’s too late. Makoto has shut the door behind him, and he’s already half way through hurriedly leaving the building when he realises that he’s left his keyboard there. He doesn’t go back for it. No way. He’s way too embarrased. Sousuke can give it back to him tomorrow at school.

Which is going to look a little awkward, seeing as he hasn’t told anybody but his parents he’s here.

He reaches the train station within record time, and finds a seat to sit down in. His legs are like two stacks of jelly. The floor ahead of him is his silent reason for being distracted. He glares into it as he thinks to himself. He should go back. He should go back, and apologise to Sousuke for everything. The awkwardness, the nerves and the lyrics,  _ oh God _ , the lyrics. He’s left those there, too. Makoto really feels like curling up and going to sleep, and not waking up for a long time.

As he impatiently taps his foot against the cold, slate floors, silently debating on whether he should g back, or wait for a train, he makes one decision clear to himself.

Cats are definitely better than dogs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tfw u love chouko 1 minute and then the next y,ou justs,,, fuckcu u dog
> 
> SO THERE YA HAVE IT. A L M O S T T H E R E .
> 
> I think you're all going to enjoy the next couple of chapters after this, which I can only promise to try my best to get them up as soon as possible, so please be patient with me! <3
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions on my blog! 
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	22. The Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> if ur thinkin this is about secks ur wrong
> 
> The morning after Makoto and Sousuke's little problem has to be dealt with. Just not like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yahoo!! here it is! i know a few of you have probably been waiting for this after my mean little cliffhanger last time, heheh, but yet again, the past week has been pretty hectic. I was actually going to upload this yesterday, but shit happens, I apologise.
> 
> Thank you to those who are patient, and i hope you enjoy this chapter.
> 
> and its only 5am im getting slightly better? idk no

Makoto lies on his bed, late at night, staring endlessly at the bottle of water he randomly chose to take home. The light rain that hits his window should be calming, but tonight, it isn’t. He feels so dumb for leaving an entire keyboard there, and choosing to take the thing he barely needed home with him. 

For some odd reason, he hasn’t told neither Rin or Haruka that he went to visit Sousuke today. Sure, he’s texted them, about the club, school, and things in general, but neither of them asked what he had done today. He’ll never tell them.  _ But why? _

When he arrived home, he was pestered by his parents about his day. Makoto braved a happy smile and told them that he has had a fun day, despite it not being the exact truth. His parents seem pretty happy that he’s has made a new friend, and his little siblings seem a little eager to meet this new friend, which is gonna be a bit of a problem. Nonetheless, they don’t suspect a thing.

To be fair, it isn't exactly a bad day. He got to spend some time with his crush, and meet his little pet, which is amazing on a whole. The best part being that Sousuke himself actually invited him to come around. 

It’s a shame it had to end so quickly.

And it was his fault. He thought he would take the opportunity to kiss Sousuke right there and then, completely without Sousuke’s permission. Even though it may have looked like Sousuke himself was leaning in for it, he might not have been leaning in for a kiss exactly. He was probably looking over at his keyboard or something… There’s no possible explanation that Makoto can think of that would lead to Sousuke  _ wanting _ to kiss him.

Makoto groans as he turns his head and buries it into his pillow. To be honest, he hasn’t done this for a while. He thought that everything was going alright between him and Sousuke. Apart from the whole lyrics situation, the getting lost situation, and the singing, and the- No. Nothing is going alright at all, in all honesty.

Sousuke hasn’t even bothered to text him since he left, not even about his keyboard, and Makoto’s far too nervous to text him first. It can’t be because Sousuke is nervous too, because Sousuke’s never been nervous about anything, since the day they met. He’s been a little awkward, but never nervous.

Sousuke’s face when they pulled away wasn’t anything positive at all. He looked so _ angry _ , and with his head down,  _ disgusted _ . He was probably appalled by Makoto’s obvious attempt to kiss him. This is the part where he’s grateful for cutting it short. If Sousuke just looked disgusted from being so close to Makoto, Makoto can’t even begin to think about how he would have reacted if they had actually kissed.

All he knows is that he’s going to dread tomorrow. He’s going to dread practice tomorrow morning, and pretty much the rest of the day.  He doesn’t even think he’s going to be able to look him in the face. Sousuke probably doesn’t want to look  _ him _ in the face now, anyway... 

Makoto sighs as he turns his head again. His water bottle is still full, as he only took a single sip from it. He doesn’t even feel like laughing at the silly fact that it’s technically memorabilia of Sousuke. Makoto doesn’t even want to think about Sousuke at all right now.

But he can’t stop.

Makoto takes a moment to actually imagine what would have happened if they would have kissed. How Sousuke’s lips would have felt against his own. Warm. Warm like his breath that he felt, so close and humble. Slightly chapped, rough and exciting. 

How would Sousuke kiss him though? Would he be gentle? Would he kiss him softly, and make him feel all of those cliche feelings in his heart? Or maybe Sousuke isn’t so soft, because judging by the look of him, there isn’t one thing that defines him as soft. Maybe his little puppy, but that’s about it.

What if Sousuke is the opposite of soft? Maybe, a little rough… Would he be one to use his teeth, and take control? Makoto closes his eyes at the thought. He thinks about it, replaying the image of Sousuke pulling at his lips with his teeth. How good it would make him feel…

But that’s not what he wants right now. He wants to share his first kiss with Sousuke. He’s no Rin, but embarrassingly enough, he can’t help but want it to be… Romantic. All of these thoughts, they’re cliche and cheesy as hell. But he can’t deny that he longs for a sweet kiss, perhaps in the rain. Just like in those movies. The feeling of being so, so cold, but holding your lover so close so that both of you feel nothing but warmth, just sounds so satisfying.

Makoto inwardly cringes at himself, tossing and turning again. This time he lays on his back, looking up at his ceiling. A kiss in the rain…

He wonders what Sousuke would look like in the rain. His eyes would be the brightest things, dazzling teal beneath a grey sky. His hair would be dripping and matted to his forehead, and maybe a little darker in colour. And such a well built figure, too. If he were to wear a white shirt in the rain, he would be able to see right through it. Toned body, all drenched and wet… Just as if he was to come straight out of a hot shower.

Makoto’s eyes widen when he feels a sudden stirring within his body. Oh. Oh no. Not this again… He can’t go having these visions. Especially after what’s happened today, and what’s going to happen tomorrow. 

He takes a moment to compose himself. After today, Sousuke probably isn’t ever going to kiss him, nor want to even be closer to him. He’ll never hold his hand, or kiss him in the rain. 

The thought alone is enough to put him in a slump. He turns on his side, and gazes endlessly into his water bottle, feeling a small frown forming on his lips. 

He’s thirsty, but he doesn’t want water.

In other words, his crush has been crushed on. By a combination of a simple misreading, and a small puppy. Everything he thought was going to work. Perhaps one day he’ll be over it.

Saying that to himself kind of hurts. He and Sousuke aren’t really that close, sure they’re friends, but obviously he wants more. But Sousuke doesn’t. That’s the way it’s going to be, and at this moment in time, it feels like this is the way it’s always going to be. 

But no matter how much he’s going to sit here and tell himself that Sousuke just isn’t into him, there’s a small sense of hope within him.

Besides, if nothing works out, a guy can…  _ fantasize _ , right? That image of Sousuke in the rain is still playing on his mind, and  _ well _ , it is kinda hot.

Makoto sits up slightly, and innocently turns his head to look over at his door, making sure that the lock is secured.

Well, this is one way of cheering himself up.

\---

“Huh? You didn’t bring your keyboard?” Rin asks him the following morning, when Makoto shows up at his doorstep, keyboard-less. He spent a long time last night thinking of a perfect excuse. He just hopes that Sousuke telepathically heard it, and is going to play along.

“I did a bit more composing over the weekend, and I decided that for our song, it’d sound better on a grand piano.” Makoto nods, talking slowly so that Rin can understand him. Not that he won’t, to be honest, Makoto’s just trying to be a good liar as he is. “So, by the fact that there’s already such a piano at the club room, I figured that I won’t need to bring my keyboard today. We’re going over our parts, right?”

Rin blinks slowly at him, tilting his head for a moment before shrugging, throwing his guitar case and his bag over his shoulder, and stepping outside.

“That’s fair.” Rin replies, heading off down the path, Makoto following behind. Makoto offers to carry Rin’s bag, which he immediately shoots down. “In a way, it’s clever, but it’s also not fair.” Rin scowls at the stairs ahead of them. “Sometimes I wish there was a guitar already there for me to play, but then I’d miss this one too much. I just worry about taking it outside, since it’s so rare and well, y’know. It’s history.”

Makoto hums a little concerned in reply. It’s true what Rin is saying. He has to be extra careful with all of his valuables, due to his status. Somebody could easily pinch it from him if he’s not too mindful of it. 

When they reach Haruka’s house, Haruka doesn’t bother asking him about why he hasn’t brought his keyboard, however his facial expression gives it away that he’s curious. Makoto tells him what he had told Rin earlier, which is met by another silent response.

Haruka looks up to Makoto once he’s turned his head. This morning, he and Rin converse over their first actual band practice with their newest member, Rei. Haruka doesn’t think much of Rei, if he’s being perfectly honest. There’s something a little off about him when he’s around. Like he’s… not fully one with the music, just yet.

But back to Makoto. Haruka casually glances up at him. Though he may seem happy and in full conversational mode, something seems out of place. Makoto doesn’t really look like Makoto this morning. It’s probably nothing, but Haruka knows him well enough to tell when something’s bothering him. Perhaps it’s the feeling of not having his own instrument with him today…

When they reach the school gates, Makoto gives them a quick goodbye as he prepares himself to go off to his usual morning coaching session. Which he is absolutely dreading. Haruka and Rin watch him turn towards the stairs, before heading back to their classroom; 2-1.

“Did Makoto say anything weird to you this morning?” Haruka asks Rin simply, as the two sit at their desks. Rin has his chair turned towards Haruka’s desk, leaning an elbow on the table. He cocks an eyebrow at Haruka’s sudden questioning.

“Weird?” Rin repeats. Haruka nods. “No… Why do you ask?”

“Nothing.” Haruka mutters, staying silent as he reaches into his inside pocket for his beloved MP3 player.

“I thought we told you about not using that in school…” Rin groans, reaching out to take the earphone Haruka is offering him.

\---

Twenty minutes. Makoto just has to bare through this for twenty minutes. Well, eighteen, since he tried to drag out some time by walking up the staircase, incredibly slow. Eighteen minutes of putting on a brave face, forgetting about yesterday, and singing his God-forbidden lyrics.

He stands outside the large wooden doors, taking a deep breath before pushing one of them open with a flat palm.

“Sorry I’m late, I-”

Makoto pushes the door open with a half thought through excuse, to an empty room. There’s not a soul in the room apart from his own. The table is empty, and there’s nobody by the piano. Sousuke isn’t here yet. He’s late. 

But then again, isn’t  _ he _ late? 

Makoto silently decides to put down his bags and blazer against the wall, where he usually leaves them of a morning, before moving over towards the table and deciding to take a seat.

This is a little odd. Usually Sousuke is never late to their little sessions, despite them not having many. He didn’t even see him on his way here, nor did he see him outside of the school.

He hopes that this isn’t the start of something bad. Sousuke isn’t avoiding him.

...Right?

Makoto sits patiently and waits a little longer, tapping his fingers against his knees in a shaky rhythm. His eyes look around the window for a second, and then flicker over towards the door every now and then. About another five silent minutes pass. They have about ten minutes left to go, there’s honestly no point, but still, he waits. 

Makoto stands up from the seat and walks over towards the piano. He doesn’t play it, though. Instead, he leans over it, and looks out of the window onto the school grounds and the streets below, looking out for him. Nobody passes or enters the school grounds.

It’s then when his phone buzzes inside of his pocket. This is probably him. He smiles to himself in relief.

But the smile is soon gone from his face when Rin’s name appears on the screen. Curiously, he flips open his phone and goes to his messages.

[ _ Rin: Makoto, you can come back down here. _ ]

Makoto doesn’t think much of it really, as he more or less agrees with him. But what hurts him is when he scrolls down and reads the rest of the message.

[ _ Sousuke said he’s sick. Not coming in today. _ ]

He’s sick. Sousuke is sick. He’s sick, and he hasn’t shown up today. He couldn’t even find a reason to text Makoto himself, no, he had to do it through Rin. So he mustn’t want to talk to him. 

Because he made him  _ sick _ .

It’s so stupid, but Makoto just doesn’t know what to think. Sousuke might actually be sick, or he’s lying to him. But why wouldn’t he just text him? He still has his keyboard, for crying out loud.

Makoto can’t tell whether he’s angry or upset. He wants to be angry, because he hasn’t bothered contacting, but at the same time, he honestly feels like having a little cry.

He doesn’t want to believe it, but that’s probably Sousuke’s way of dealing with it. Just plain out ignoring him, and not showing his face. It hasn’t even been a whole twenty-four hours yet, and Sousuke’s decided what to do about it.

Makoto wonders what else he might have texted to Rin. Though he isn’t really Sousuke’s biggest fan right now, he still trusts him just that little bit. Enough to believe that he hasn’t spoiled anything to Rin. Especially now that Rin knows about his sexuality, one step out of line is going to blow his cover.

He doesn’t move from the window for another minute or so. He plays the same thoughts in his head, the same scenario, the same image, on repeat ; Sousuke was perfectly fine yesterday. He wasn’t ill, or coughing or anything. He wouldn’t have invited Makoto over if he were. He’s lying. He wasn’t physically sick until  _ then _ . And it’s all his fault.

He knows he shouldn’t, because it’ll only upset him further, but he imagines Sousuke actually being sick. Because of him. And there’s nothing he can do about it. He can’t even text Sousuke himself, because-

“ _Makoto_?” 

Makoto shoots up to stand straight, his eyes widen a little in surprise. He quickly pockets his phone as he looks over his shoulder quickly.

Rin looks back at him just as surprised. Though, it’s a little more concerned rather than surprised, now that Makoto gets a good look at his face in focus.

“Are you alright?” Rin asks, that concern he saw coming through. He steps further towards him.

“Hm? I’m fine, thank you. Why do you ask?” Makoto replies to him, putting on a smile for him. Rin hums quietly, nodding slowly as he looks back at him, still a little concerned. 

“It just looked a little odd seeing you looking out of the window like that.” Rin shakes his head with a small smile. “Anyway, did you get my text?”

Makoto blinks at him for a moment, thinking of an idea in his head.

“Text?” Makoto repeats, acting a little innocent. Rin shakes his head and laughs to himself.

“You were looking for him, weren’t you?” Rin says, catching Makoto off guard. Looking for him in what sense? Makoto inwardly panics for a moment as he tried to think of an appropriate response. Seeing that he isn’t saying anything, Rin laughs lightly to himself.

“Sousuke texted me. He said he can’t make it today, he’s not feeling too good, so let’s go back to class, right?” Rin says, turning around on his heel and motioning for Makoto to follow him over his shoulder.

Makoto stands a little frozen for a moment. Even hearing Rin say it to him in a different way is a little upsetting. He nods quietly, following Rin.

_ This is so stupid… Get over yourself, Makoto. _

Makoto shakes his head and lifts his head up with a bright smile as they make their way back to homeroom.

Rin doesn’t say anything more, knowing that Makoto has seen his text message. Why would his phone tell him he has read the message if he hasn’t? 

\---

“Huh? Sou-chan isn’t even here?” Nagisa whines after hearing the news from Rin. The four of them sit in their usual places on the roof, save for Nagisa, who joins them today. None of them are actually certain where he sits in the first place.

Nagisa pouts as he chomps on his favourite, Iwatobi cream bread. He groans for a moment before dropping down onto his knees, besides Rin.

“I’d say something like it’s a lot quieter without him, but it really isn’t.” Rin chuckles to himself. “At least you’re here now, Nagisa.”

Nagisa soon smiles again, putting a small smile on Makoto’s face.

Haruka still looks up at Makoto every now and then. There’s definitely something bothering him. He was a little quiet in homeroom this morning, and his attempts at getting him to stop listening to his music in class wasn’t as effective as it usually is.

Though he smiles now at the trio, Haruka can tell he only half-means it.

“I wanted to ask, if you guys don’t mind, if I could sit here with you all?” Nagisa asks. Rin looks a little surprised to be fair. A first year sitting with them? Abandoning who he usually sits with to sit with his fellow band members now?

“Of course you can, Nagisa.” Makoto nods at him, his smile widening. Rin makes a pleased sound as he wears a confident smile.

“Sure. But where you’re sitting is usually where Sousuke sits, so I’d move if I were you. He’s easily kick your ass.” Rin smirks, baring his teeth at Nagisa, who lets out a small cry in surprise. He immediately shoots up and shuffles across to Makoto, choosing to sit by his side instead.

Great, now there’s a wall of Nagisa between him and Sousuke.

“How about here?” Nagisa asks, sitting down.

“There’s fine.” Makoto nods at him, still smiling just as brightly.

Haruka hasn’t said a word to Nagisa since he came over. He’s been far too busy trying to investigate what’s going on inside Makoto’s head. He doesn’t mind Nagisa being there with them from now on, as long as he’s quiet and doesn’t bother him.

Then they should be fine.

\---

“So, what exactly is it that you compose?” Rin asks Rei, once the five members are all seated around the table for a second time. Rei goes about fixing his glasses for a moment before nodding at Rin.

“I compose both music, and occasionally lyrics.” Rei nods again. “So I suppose that’s how I will be of service to this club.”

“Lyrics? Ah, thank goodness…” Makoto sighs out in relief, lowering his head with a genuine smile this time.

“Did you not have a lyricist before hand?” Rei asks, raising an eyebrow at Makoto’s strange reaction. He lets out a small nervous laugh and lifts his head a little, not making eye contact with Rei.

“Eheheh…”

“Mako-chan wrote the lyrics to our first song.” Nagisa cuts in, seeing as Makoto probably wasn’t going to tell him. Makoto lets out a small whine as he lowers his head again. Rin laughs lightly at him. “But now that we have you, Rei-chan, we can change them!” Nagisa cheers.

“Oi, Nagisa. We’re not changing Makoto’s lyrics. Rei can write our future songs, right?” Rin cuts in, scolding Nagisa, who groans and pouts again. “I mean, if you don’t mind, Rei.”

“Not at all.” Rei shakes his head with a smile. “Just you all wait until you hear my brilliant words! You’ll want me to write forever!” He states, before laughing a little boisterously. The rest of the band members watch him, uneasily.

Haruka feels a little uncomfortable.

“So, Makoto, why don’t you show Rei what you have? He could help you out with finishing it.” Rin says, turning to face Makoto, who slowly begins to feign a small blush on his cheeks. Rin laughs through his nose, rolling his eyes.

“I… Um…”

“Makoto-senpai. I would like to hear what you have so far.” Rei encourages him, looking at him with a bit of a serious expression. To Rei, Makoto probably looks the most mature out of them all, based on attitude. If it were based on looks, Makoto’s puppy face wouldn’t score him any points on the mature board. “If you don’t mind.”

Rei finishes with a small bow. Makoto’s eyes widen slightly, he wasn’t expecting him to be so formal about it. Makoto hesitates for a moment before admitting defeat, and slowly reaching into his pocket.

But then he remembers. He doesn’t have his lyrics. 

Sousuke does.

“I’m sorry…” Makoto replies, a little quietly. “I don’t have them with me right now.” He admits, making every pair of eyes at the table look at him a little oddly. Why wouldn’t he bring both his keyboard  _ and _ the lyrics? Makoto quickly thinks of something as none of them go to speak. “B-but, I can remember how it goes. I can write them out again for you?”

That’s true. From the amount of times he had to sing it yesterday, he knows what he’s written off by heart. But still… He doesn’t really want to show Rei.

“Ah, that’s right!” Rin suddenly pipes up before Rei can get a word in. “Makoto, you’ve been practising with Sousuke, right? Why don’t you sing it to us?” 

“Yeah! You can sing it to us now, Mako-chan!” Nagisa cheers, leaning forward in his seat. “ _ No excuses! _ ”

“Oi.” Haruka cuts him off, scowling over at Nagisa. “If Makoto doesn’t want to sing it now, he doesn’t have to.”

“Thank you, Haru.” Makoto smiles politely at him. He nods in his direction. Haruka closes his eyes and nods. “He’s right, I’m sorry. I don’t think I’m good enough to sing it to you all, yet.” He continues, looking down at his hands. “I’ll write them out for you, Rei…”

It’s a little silent from then on as Makoto reaches into his bag for a piece of paper and a pencil. He sets them out on the table, and takes the pencil into his hand. Makoto waits a moment before lifting his head up at them.

“Um…” He mutters.

“Oh, right.” Rin shakes his head, moving to stand. “Rei, whilst Makoto is writing it out, why don’t you come over and listen to what we have so far?”

“Yeah! C’mon!” Nagisa exclaims, jumping to his feet and tugging Rei upwards, too.

“Nagisa-kun, be careful!” Rei warns him, shaking himself free from Nagisa’s grip and following them over to the other side of the room. 

Haruka doesn’t stand from his seat until Rin looks back at him over his shoulder, a little expectantly. He silently stands, but slowly walks around the table before going to join the others. 

“Makoto.” He says calmly. Makoto writes down a couple words before slowly looking up to meet Haruka’s look. “Are you okay?”

Makoto looks back at him a little taken by surprise. He hums happily, and smiles up at him.

“Mm. I’m fine.” He replies happily. Haruka nods at him before finally going to join the other three, who are situated at the drum kit.

Both Haruka and Rin have shown a little concern for him today… This doesn’t look good. 

Is the whole situation with Sousuke bothering him  _ that  _ much?

“Hey, Rei-chan! You should totally try playing the drums!” Nagisa says suddenly out of excitement, he bounces on his tip toes, putting freight into the three that surround him.

“No thank you, Nagisa-kun. I said I’d be your composer, not your drummer.” Rei retorts, but Nagisa has none of it. He pushes Rei further and further into the corner so that he has no choice but to sit on the stool.

Rin looks over to Haruka with a bit of an uneasy look on his face. Haruka doesn’t look back at him though. Instead, he watches as Nagisa hands him the drum sticks.

“Rei-chan, how good is your rhythm?” Nagisa asks, now that he has Rei right where he wants him.

“Nagisa, he’s a composer, of course he has good rhythm.” Rin butts in once he’s regained confidence again.

“That’s right, Rin-Senpai!” Rei says proudly from behind the drum kit. Rin chuckles quietly.

“You’re holding them wrong…” Nagisa groans, watching as Rei awkwardly holds the drum sticks up in front of him.

“I told you, I’m not a drummer.” Rei repeats, looking up at Nagisa as the boy himself takes Rei’s hands and forces him to hold them properly, moving his fingers with precision. 

“There!” Nagisa cheers, and steps back, looking over him like a proud parent. Nagisa smiles down at him humbly.

Haruka and Rin both stand and watch him intensely. So, he doesn’t seem too put off about the idea of playing an instrument… 

“This is… Really uncomfortable.” Rei mumbles, moving his hands about. He lifts one arm up and holds it out towards the snare drum.

“Alright! So all you have to do is, put your foot on the pedal, and with your hands, hit  _ this one _ , and then  _ that one _ , you have to really  _ stomp _ on the pedal, maybe come back to this one, but then-”

Nagisa’s babbling is cut off by Rei placing both of the sticks down on top of the drum. He can't bare to hear his voice going on and on down his ear or watch as his arms point in all sorts of directions, at such a fierce speed.

“The drums are far too confusing and complex for myself, plus, they’re also awfully loud. I’d rather play something softer.” Rei says a little sternly, standing up from the stool and silencing Nagisa.

“But you didn’t even-”

“So you want to play something?” Rin cuts in with a smirk. He glances up towards Rei, one hand on his hip. 

“That’s… That is not what I initially set out to do.” Rei replies, a little quieter. He steps out from behind the drum kit, and moves around more towards Rin and Haruka. Rin tilts his head, still wearing his smirk.

“Something softer? Why don’t you try… the piano?” Rin asks, seeing an initial reaction of curiosity spread across Rei’s face, though, the boy himself stays quiet. Rin looks back over his shoulder. “Makoto? Do you have a minute?”

Makoto lifts his head up again at hearing his name being called. He looks down at the lyrics that are written hastily on the paper, before looking back up at them. He smiles as he gets up from the table, leaving the lyrics there, and moving over to the other side of the room. “What’s up?”

“Makoto-Senpai, if you don’t mind, I would like for you to teach me about playing the piano.” Rei asks him, standing straight and looking at Makoto expectantly. Makoto looks up at Rei, then to the others who silently try and persuade him, before looking back to Rei with his trademark smile. He's like some kind of proud parent, teaching his son.

“Sure! Come over here, I’ll teach you what I can.” Makoto replies, motioning for Rei to follow him towards the piano. Makoto hasn’t ever actually played a song on this piano before, but it doesn’t mean that he can’t. It’s still a piano.

“Hey… Do you think we can convince him to play an instrument?” Rin whispers to both Nagisa and Haruka who stand either side of them, all of them watching intensely as Makoto guides Rei through the basics; naming the keys and playing techniques.

“Maybe! I mean, we didn’t need another drummer, right?” Nagisa whispers back, just as excited.

“Well, who’s to say we need another pianist?” Rin turns his head slightly at Nagisa, raising an eyebrow at him. Nagisa turns back to them and hums to himself in thought.

Haruka stays silent on the other side, trying to listen in to Makoto’s little lesson. He seems to know what he’s talking about. 

“You got it?” Makoto asks Rei with a small smile, taking his hand away from the keys and allowing Rei to make himself comfortable.

“Of course.” Rei smiles happily, before pushing his fingers down onto the keys, only for them to slip and press the wrong ones, emitting a loud, harsh sound across the room. All of them wince. He stares down at the instrument in disbelief. “I was positive I had it…”

Makoto laughs a little lightly as he goes about correcting Rei, showing him the same thing as before, but in a slightly easier way. But again, Rei just can’t seem to get it down.

“What is it that I’m doing wrong?” Rei mutters to himself, putting a finger to his lips and staring down at the keys. Perhaps he isn’t thinking this out as theoretically as he should be.

“Maybe the keyboard isn’t your instrument, Rei…” Makoto says softly, smiling down at him apologetically. “Perhaps the guitar…?” Makoto leads off, looking up a little hopefully at the guitarists, who both stand still in their places.

Haruka doesn’t really want Rei touching his guitar. He’ll have to thoroughly clean it afterwards and he doesn’t particularly like the idea of Rei making his guitar sound oh so horrible. Rin on the other hand is just careful about his own instrument. His guitar is incredibly expensive, as well as rare.

“I don’t think either of our guitars are suited for you, Rei.” Rin says a little nervously with a sheepish smile. "You see, the necks on the guitars are suited to mine and Haru’s preferable size, as well as weight, and-”

“I see. Then, I shall write all of this down, and study about it as best as I can.” Rei nods sharply, putting a surprised look on Rin’s face as he swiftly turns and heads back over towards the table.

The rest of them watch, as Rei walks back over, and takes out from his bag a small notebook as well as a pen. As he sits himself down, the four look to each other, all wearing a confused expression.

Rin tries to smile at them. At least he seems a little interested in playing an instrument… They could be onto something here. 

Makoto doesn’t have time to smile back as he realises that Rei is now sat at the table where his lyrics are out plain in view. He hurries back towards the table with a small yelp, gathering the paper in his arms and laughing a little nervously again.

Rin shakes his head jokingly. Each member of this band is proving to be a bit of a challenge.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there we have it!! a challenge indeed!! this fic!! is challenge!!Ing1! me! but i love it and i will continue to write!
> 
> i hope y'all aren't too disappointed in sousuke lmao, go easy on the guy y'all <3 i'm going to start writing the next chapter as soon as i wake up later, so please be on the look out for it! 
> 
> OH OH!! and if you're wondering where the promo art is, [ im making a start!](http://karumello.tumblr.com/post/147644291477/wipsuke-wip-him-hard)
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions on my blog! 
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	23. Handle Me With Care

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sousuke decides it's his turn to make a decision about what happened. What happens the next day is completely down to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yooo
> 
> [Please Read This](http://karumello.tumblr.com/post/148128328842/wheres-ebimc-c23-read-below-pleasemore) to find out where I've been gone the past two weeks.
> 
> Hopefully you'll all understand and this will be the last time I leave an update too long.
> 
> Though I do think that this chapter will surely make up for it! ;;;))

“How many hours are you at school for, Sousuke-san?” Says the lady that lives above Sousuke’s apartment, Tamiko. She’s fairly old; light grey hair tied up into a simple bun, crow’s feet wrinkles that adorn light blue eyes, and a tight-lipped smile. She doesn’t seem to be offended by Sousuke’s sudden request.

“Ah, I’m at school starting from eight-thirty to round about three o’clock.” Sousuke replies, looking down for a moment to do the math in his head again. He’s quite good at math, so that shouldn’t be so hard to figure it out. That makes it… “Six and a half..” He says a little quietly. That’s a bit long.

“Six and a half? Not a problem, dear. Don’t look so worried.” Tamiko says sweetly, making Sousuke lift his head up a little in surprise. “Is she child-friendly?”

“I… I’m not too sure about that one.” Sousuke frowns, looking away slightly, missing his neighbour mirroring his expression. “Though, she loves other people I guess…” Which may not exactly be the truth. She seems to be happy meeting other people on the street, and she sure as hell loved _him._

“Then children shouldn’t be a problem for her. I have two granddaughters, who are sure to love her. I mean, excitable children should be enough for an excitable dog, right?” She laughs softly, making Sousuke feel a little bit more at ease.

“Right… Chouko, she’s toilet trained I promise. If anything bad happens, don’t hesitate to scold her.” Sousuke nods, placing a hand on his hip. “And.. She can get loud at feeding time.” He adds quickly, Tamiko doesn’t seem to have one bad bone in her, as the smile doesn’t move from her face. In a sense, she’s kinda like-

“Don’t fret it, Sousuke-san. I’m sure she’ll be obedient and polite for me as she has a respectable owner.” She says with a crinkled-eye smile. Sousuke feels a little taken aback for a moment.

“Sure..” He mutters. “Thank you. I’ll be up tomorrow morning.” He continues, looking back at her with a stern look.

“Don’t thank me, Sousuke-san. What are good neighbours for?” Tamiko smiles again, starting to make Sousuke feel a little uncomfortable. He steps back, letting her know that he’s leaving.

“Yeah… See you tomorrow.”

“See you, Sousuke-san.”

Sousuke nods back at her and turns to walk back down the hall, sighing when he hears the small click of his neighbour’s door closing behind him. He can’t believe he just did that. He’s only talked to Tamiko when they run into each other, and it’s not even full blown conversation. Just a small ‘hello’ every now and then, but she’s the only one in here he can trust.

_“Though, she’s a small dog, so this must be alright for her.” Makoto nodded, turning to pet Chouko’s soft fur again before taking a moment to think about something, looking back up at him with a small pout. “Sousuke… When you’re at school, is she left here alone?”_

Sousuke frowns at himself as he walks back towards his own apartment, where his dog waits patiently for him. He should probably get some sleep.

\---

That clock has to be the most annoying thing that he brought from his parent’s home.

All day, and all night, it’s been ticking and tocking it’s way into his brain. It’s incredibly annoying, and he would love nothing more than to get up and throw it across the room. But he can’t move. Makoto was right. It is quiet here.

The afternoon sun beams through his windows, and catches the tips of the fur on Chouko’s tail, shimmering black. She lays curled up on Sousuke’s chest, fast asleep. She breathes through her nose as she sleeps,  thick fur blowing in time with her breathing.

Sousuke himself looks down at the pet with a small frown. He doesn’t exactly know how he feels towards his dog right now. He doesn’t exactly know how he feels towards anything at the moment. He lets a small sigh escape from his nose, turning to look over at the keyboard that Makoto had decided to randomly leave here yesterday.

Yesterday. It was… strange.

Why did he chicken out and take today off? He feels like kicking himself for doing it, it’s a way of showing Makoto his weakness. That’s the last thing he wants Makoto to see him as. Weak. Because he isn’t he’s very strong and level-headed, and seems to handle his emotions well, right?

It’s not that he’s too embarrassed or shy to look him in the eye again, it’s just… Well, he doesn’t really know.

All that he does know, which he doesn’t want to admit, is that he almost kissed Makoto yesterday. And he started it. He just can’t seem to place a finger on why he did it. Maybe it was the lyrics. Thinking about it that way makes him feel a little uncomfortable. Those lyrics.. Are sickeningly sweet as he said before. Maybe it was just the heat of the moment.

But he’s a guy.

And the last time he checked, he was absolutely positive he liked girls.

He doesn't even want to think about accepting the fact that there is something about Makoto that he’s curious about. Because there isn't. Makoto just has a very cute face. No, not very cute, just cute. His laugh, it's soft and charming, and makes him feel a little strange if he's being honest. Maybe it's just because he's never really been around somebody who laughs so much. Which is another lie, since all Rin did when they were younger was laugh his ass off.

Oh, and cry. Just a little bit.

God, he’s so fucking lame. Skipping school because he had no idea of what to do or say to Makoto, who’s probably raging right now as Sousuke hasn’t thought about coming back to return it. Wait, no. Makoto wouldn’t rage. He can’t picture it. He’s probably worried more than anything. He probably freaked out this morning, went up to the club room and discovered that he wasn’t there. And freaked out again.

But… Why did _he_ lean in, too?

Makoto hasn’t texted him since Sunday morning, and he hasn’t thought about texting him first. But then again, what can he say? “Sorry for almost kissing you”? Just thinking about it makes Sousuke flinch. What _would_ have happened if they would have actually… No.

Sousuke takes a deep breath, looking down at Chouko’s position, before slowly leaning over to reach out for his phone, which sits discarded since last night, behind a cushion. He stretches his hand out as far as he can, keeping his other on the dog, and manages to capture his phone between his middle and index finger. Suddenly, Chouko emits a tiny growl from having her sleep disturbed and being moved around.

“Alright alright, sorry...” Sousuke grumbles back at her, getting comfortable again and allowing his dog to do the same. He glances down at her sleeping figure, before lifting his hand from her back to scratch her tiny face.

If Chouko weren't here, then what happened yesterday would have changed his perspective of today. Or would it? _Let’s not beat around the bush here._ Would he be laying here on his couch after a very unproductive day, thinking about a kiss for ongoing hours? This is so stupid.

Sousuke flips up the screen of his phone, being greeted by a text from Rin. Nothing from Makoto. Why would he?

Makoto… He left as soon as possible yesterday. God damnit, all he wanted was to make a friend, and now he’s gone and scared him away. Typical of somebody like him. But his lips, they looked so soft, pink and- No. That’s just wrong.

Oh fuck. What if he told Rin? What if this text from Rin is actually from Makoto? He’s screwed.

Sousuke opens his messages hurriedly, feeling a little anxiety creeping up on him as Rin’s message loads.

_[Rin: I’ll let him know. Get better.]_

Sousuke closes his phone shut and tosses it down besides him, met with another small growl from his dog. Of course. It was just Rin getting back to his text from this morning. Sousuke lays his head back and stares up at the boring magnolia ceiling. He doubts Makoto will be texting him back anytime soon. Why is he bothered by that? Sousuke frowns.

He should do it first. _Show him you’re not a coward._

Sousuke picks the phone back up, looking at Chouko from behind the screen before pulling up his contacts and going down to Makoto’s number.

\---

“I’ll never going to forgive you for that.” Rin half-pants, as he runs along the beachside. Tonight, he, Haruka and Makoto met up for their daily jog, a little later than usual due to Rin having to fill out a few papers.

“He wanted to try playing a guitar. I didn’t want to hear Tobimaru-kun sounding horrible.” Haruka argues back, not bothering to look back at Rin and see his reaction. Rin shakes his head at the smaller.

“Why did you name your guitar _that_?” Rin asks, still a little baffled. It’s a bit strange to name your instrument with a human name and talk about it as if it were a human.

“Tobimaru… That means, flying? Flying circle?” Makoto joins in, sounding even more confused than Rin at this point. Rin cocks his head at the name too. “Haru, that doesn’t make any sense!” Makoto whines.

“It doesn’t have to.” Haruka argues back, still not looking over at them. “I picked it because I like the sound of it.”

“Just like you like the sound of your guitar, right? It does have a nice ring to it, I guess.” Makoto smiles, silently supporting him. He doesn’t see Haru’s face at the moment, as he’s a little ahead of he and Rin, but he knows that he’s thankful.

“But… It’s a guitar.” Rin argues back. “I haven’t named mine.”

“You should.” Haruka replies quickly. “I think it gives the guitar a better sound.” He continues, slowing down a little bit to look past Makoto and look Rin in the eye.

“Naming my guitar won’t change the way it sounds.” Rin scowls, looking back at Haruka, who frowns again. This has got to be one of their silliest arguments.

“I think so. It gives it a more personal feel and pulls you both closer together.” Haruka responds, sounding slightly offended. In his perspective, Tobimaru and he have always been close to each other. They complement each other.

Rin shakes his head, rolls his eyes and decides to be quiet about it for a moment.

“You’d fuck your guitar if you could.”

“Shut up.”

Makoto blushes at this, feeling a little uncomfortable. He knows that Haruka loves his guitar, but not _that_ much. Also, that would probably hurt…

Rin looks up to Makoto, seeing him looking a little uncomfortable and feels a little bad all of a sudden. He clears his throat loudly, before looking over to Makoto, who catches on to his actions and looks to him first.

“You haven’t named your keyboard have you, Makoto?” Rin asks a little cautiously, feeling at ease when a humorous smile appears on Makoto’s face.

“Well I haven’t thought of anything to call him yet.” Makoto laughs softly, putting a disappointed look on Rin’s face. “I’ll think of something soon, though.”

“You two are insane…” Rin shakes his head with a small sigh, emitting a laugh from Makoto, and another glare from Haruka. “Honestly.”

_Bzzt!_

“Ah!” Makoto lets out a small gasp of surprise from feeling his phone buzz so close to his skin through his running gear. He doesn’t even realise that Haruka and Rin are looking directly at him as he immediately goes into the pocket to retrieve his phone, taking it out and hurriedly looking at his screen.

His face almost lights up as much as his phone does when he reads the name of the sender.

_[Sousuke: sick today. see you tomorrow]_

“Who is it?” Haruka asks, seeing that Makoto has slowed down a little. If he’s being honest, Makoto has been a little off all day, despite nobody agreeing with him. Has he been receiving texts all day? Is that why he’s been weird? He wonders what they say…They can’t be anything bad, as he seems a little happy.

“Ah, it’s my mom. The twins really want me home. They hate going to sleep without me there.” Makoto says with a light smile. Though he lies, he’s not quite sure why he said to them that he more or less wants to go home. Is that what he wants?

The text more or less says that he’ll see Sousuke again tomorrow. Going home won’t make it happen any quicker.

“Then you should go home to them.” Haruka replies simply, though he can’t help but think a tiny bit suspiciously. He shakes his head. Why is he thinking this of his best friend? Makoto would never lie to him. All his life, he’s been nothing but honest.

“Yeah. I mean, you won’t miss much and you’ll still be exercising the rest of the way home right? You might miss me beating Haru’s ass but-”

“ _Oi._ ”

“Sure, I’m sorry about this. I’ll see you both tomorrow, right?” Makoto responds with a light laugh at their bickering. He knows that they’re just joking and they won’t actually fight, he trusts them enough.

“Don’t fret it. Goodnight, Makoto.” Rin gives him a small nod, as does Haruka.

“Goodnight.” Haruka mumbles loud enough for him to hear.

Makoto smiles, bids them his goodbye, and turns to jog back home, taking the path he usually does. He doesn’t even hear Haruka muttering something lowly behind his back. He’s probably conversing with Rin on where to take their little jog or something.

All that he’s focused on for now is Sousuke, and the fact that maybe he was sick after all. Maybe not from him, but maybe from the rain last night, or he didn’t eat well? Oh no, he hopes that he’s alright. He can’t have his coaching sessions without him. But he did say that he’d see him tomorrow, right?

Makoto shakes his head as he walks. He’s thinking about this too positively now. Just because he was sick today doesn’t mean that he’ll be fully recovered tomorrow. He has to remember that Sousuke and he almost got a little too close for comfort yesterday, and it won’t all be rainbows and sunshine tomorrow.

With that in mind, he walks home silently, thinking about how to handle tomorrow with care, texting Sousuke back with a simple:

_[Sure! Recover well, Sousuke!]_

\---

When morning comes, Makoto feels a slight bounce in his step. One that makes Haruka slowly question his mood yesterday even more. He greeted him with a bright smile this morning and didn’t even force him away from his guitar. Something must have happened…

“But I swear, if any of the guys on that team even dare touch my sister they’re getting their faces kicked in.” Rin scoffs. Today, he starts their morning conversation talking about some third year that apparently has his eye on Gou. Thinking about the thought of his sister having a boyfriend makes him inwardly shiver. She’s far too young for anything like that right now.

“I’m sure they’re just friends, Rin.” Makoto responds with a small smile. He does feel a little wary of Gou himself, knowing that she’s became part of such a hard working club. Though, if her friend Chigusa is with her is unknown. “She’ll do well.”

“Right… But I swear if anybody lays a hand on her.” Rin growls, holding his guitar to his back closer.

“You wouldn’t actually fight them.” Haruka adds, not bothering to look at Rin’s face of doubt.

“You don’t think I wouldn’t?” He replies sassily.

“I know you wouldn’t.”

“Alright. Well, we’ll be heading off to class, now. I’m actually not too sure if Sousuke’s back in today…” Rin mumbles, stopping in his tracks, and siding away from Makoto along with Haruka.

“I’ll still check though. You never know.” Makoto says, inwardly knowing that Sousuke is up there waiting for him. He says this with a smile. Though, he doesn’t voice his thoughts.

“Sure. See you later!” Rin waves him off as Makoto waves back, turning to climb the stairs.

He can’t deny that he’s a little excited for this, but at the same time, he’s scared. He’s scared of what Sousuke will have to say to him, what if he’s going to tell him that he doesn’t want to coach him anymore? Nothing from the text he sent last night gives anything away about how Sousuke feels at all. He’s a very mysterious character, if he has to say so.

When he reaches the top of the stairs, he takes a deep breath before walking up to the doors, and pushing one open. There isn’t a silhouette in the window that gives away whether Sousuke is there or not.

“Good morning.” Makoto says politely as he opens the door, revealing that Sousuke is indeed here, sitting at the table, in his seat.

“Yo.” Sousuke replies casually. His eyes are closed, and his head is tilted downwards towards the table. At the sound of Makoto’s footsteps getting closer, Sousuke opens an eye slowly and looks up towards him, meeting his gaze.

Though he inwardly cringes at himself for it, Makoto missed seeing those eyes yesterday.

“Are you feeling better?” Makoto asks, sitting down besides him and giving him a warm smile, keeping himself cool.

“Yeah.” Sousuke says, opening his other eye and looking over at Makoto’s smile, which looks a little different from the last time he saw it, if he’s being honest. He tilts his head towards him, proving his little thought right as Makoto’s smile fades a little. “So, have you worked on anything new?”

“New?...” Makoto repeats, trying to regain his smile. “Umm… I tried to think of some new lyrics, and even asked our newest member if he had anything, but he was just as inexperienced in romance as I was.” He laughs a little nervously. It’s quiet. Makoto feels very, very awkward. Sousuke seems to be moving on from the other day so quickly.

“Rin’s your best shot here.” Sousuke speaks bluntly, not looking Makoto in the eye. “He’s never had a relationship, but he’s watched enough stupid love films to know what it’s like.”

Makoto lets out a soft laugh at that, making Sousuke’s ears perk up. He almost forgot what his laugh sounded like. It’s so, _sweet_ …

“Mm. Rin sure likes his romantic movies.” Makoto adds, in spite of having nothing much else to say.

“Oh. I brought your keyboard.” Sousuke lifts his head towards it. Sure enough, if Makoto looks past Sousuke’s head, is his keyboard put away in its case leaning against the wall. “You left an entire keyboard at my place.”

Makoto lets out the same laugh again, putting a small scowl on Sousuke’s face.

“Ah, thank you, Sousuke.” Makoto nods. “Will we be needing it today?” He asks, getting up from his seat.

“Of course.” Sousuke looks up to him a little skeptically. Makoto doesn’t say anything in return, feeling a little embarrassed and quickly shuffling over to the other side of the room to retrieve his keyboard. “Just set it on the table for now. You can set up when we’re done talking.”

Done talking? Does he mean talking in general or the song? Or… Could he mean…

“Sure.” Makoto nods, lifting the keyboard up and placing it down gently on the far side of the table, before moving to rejoin Sousuke on the other side, taking his seat again. In a way, he feels happy to be sat this close to Sousuke again.

But what doesn’t make him completely happy is the silence that surrounds them. It’s so quiet that it’s starting to feel uncomfortable. Really uncomfortable. It looks like Sousuke doesn’t have anything else to say, and neither does he. They could immediately get back to practice, but where they left off was…

Sousuke looks around the room, and then at his lap for a moment. He looks deep in thought. Maybe he’s trying to think of something to say, or something to do that will take their minds off of it. Makoto himself tries to channel Sousuke’s thoughts and think of something too. Maybe Sousuke might have something for the lyrics, which might be a bad idea, but all in all, it might not hurt to ask…

“Sousuke, do you have any ideas for the lyrics?” Makoto asks a little cautiously. Sousuke breathes in through his nose and sits up, turning to face him.

“Let’s just get it over with.” He says bluntly.

Makoto blinks a little quickly from Sousuke’s sudden movement. Though, he’s happy that Sousuke looks like he has a few suggestions.

“Okay, so you have the lyrics, right?” Makoto asks, feeling a little uncomfortable again from Sousuke’s stare.

His eyes shrink again when Sousuke takes his chin into his hand, soft, and tilts it upwards towards him. He ducks his head down a little, ignoring the frightened look on Makoto’s face, and mutters;

“Not that, dumbass...”

Within the next second, Sousuke’s lips are on his own.

Sousuke is _kissing him_.

Makoto’s eyes are blown wide open, looking directly at Sousuke’s eyelids which are closed. He doesn’t even get a moment to register how his lips feel against his own, or how this was Sousuke’s idea, before the boy himself pulls away, takes back his hand and turns to take out the lyrics from his pocket.

Makoto stares horrifyingly into the back of Sousuke’s head, trying to process what has just happened. Sousuke stole his first kiss, which is exactly what he wanted, but not how he wanted it. It wasn’t under the moon in the pouring rain or on his doorstep or anything like that, but quick and rushed in a school club room.

Sousuke pulls out the lyrics as well as a pen, and sets them down on the desk in front of them He pauses for a moment, not looking back at Makoto as he takes the pen into his hand and begins to scribble something out onto the paper. Makoto doesn’t even look down at what he’s writing, he just focuses on Sousuke in person, and how _casual_ he’s being about this.

“I was thinking, the tempo you have it set as is a little too fast, that you’re slipping up on playing every now and then, so you should slow it down.” Sousuke nods, writing down the words that he says. Finally, he turns his head to look up at Makoto. “What do you thi-”

Makoto is aware that his blush is covering the majority of his face, and his ears are burning. He’s aware that Sousuke is staring back at him, looking a little surprised himself. He can’t remember the last time he blinked.

“...Are you alright?” Sousuke asks a little timidly. Makoto has to take a moment to swallow thickly and finally blink for a moment. Did he just dream that up or did Sousuke really just kiss him?

No, it was definitely real. Makoto will never forget that. But now his lips are stuck together like glue. He can’t form any words or even find the right words to say. Though, with Sousuke’s piercing teal gaze, he feels that he has to say something.

“A-ah… Sousuke, th-that was my first kiss!” Makoto manages to squeak out, instantly regretting it a second after. Why did he have to blurt out _that_ of all things?

“Huh. Me too.” Sousuke replies calmly, regaining his natural expression, he looks back to the paper and holds his pen a little tighter. Makoto stares at him cluelessly. How is he about to stay so collected?

When he thinks about it a little more in depth as Sousuke continues to write, it becomes obvious how he’s not in the same state Makoto is right now. Sousuke clearly doesn’t like him the way he likes Sousuke. Thinking about it kinda makes this whole situation a lot less happier than it should be. Is he even happy now?

“So, about the song-”

“Wait.” Makoto butts in, a little seriously. Sousuke looks back at him for a moment. “You can’t just… Just _kiss_ me out of nowhere without explanation.” Makoto frowns.

That’s when he has him. Sousuke puts the pen down after a moment of looking away, and sits up again, turning to face him. He sighs out through his nose.

“Let’s be honest. You and I both know we almost did it the other day.” Sousuke makes a point, putting on his serious face. Makoto blushes lightly on top of the blush that he already has. When he puts it like that, it makes him think of _something else_. “And we both know that it’s been playing on our minds since.”

Makoto is silent. He can’t say anything in defence if Sousuke is admitting to it.

He hums in agreement, looking down at his hands that still clutch on to his chair from when Sousuke kissed him. To be honest it’s still kinda difficult to process that in his head. He watches intensely as Sousuke slowly moves to pick up his pen again.

“But why?” Makoto speaks up, making sure Sousuke drops the pen again. Sousuke himself sighs again.

“Makoto…” He begins, and he completely has Makoto’s attention. He looks at him, a little annoyed at the least. _“What’s your deal?”_

Makoto is a little surprised by Sousuke’s sudden question. Why is he so blunt with him all of a sudden? All he wants is an explanation, and especially after that, he deserves one.

“Huh? I… I just wanted to know why you-”

“Not that. I mean as in your sexuality.” Sousuke cuts in, looking a bit more stern. Makoto pauses for a moment as he thinks carefully about this, not wanting to create suspicion and drag it out. “And just to make things clear, I’m straight.”

“Me too.” Makoto mutters, looking up at him with a straight face ironically. Sousuke looks him over and nods, before finally putting pen to paper again.

Makoto looks down at the table in front of him. Oh. Well, that hurts. It’s selfish of Makoto to think that, but what was he expecting? If you’re gay, then not everyone you like of the same gender is going to be gay, too. That’s just how it works. He was hoping for a moment that Sousuke’s reply would be different as to why he just kissed him so suddenly.

“No you’re not.” Sousuke comments quietly, loud enough for Makoto to hear him though. Makoto lifts his head to catch Sousuke staring at him again. How long has he been staring at him for. “You don’t look happy saying that. Tell me. I won’t tell anybody.”

Makoto looks back at him with slight realisation, before glancing down at his feet.

“N-no… I’m not.” Makoto admits quietly. He doesn’t want to look up again and see Sousuke’s reaction. There’s the possibility that Sousuke could make a homophobic remark, but after kissing him that’s fairly doubted.

“So you’re…” Sousuke drags out, making Makoto wince. He’s aware that Makoto is uncomfortable, but he can’t help it. He’s just so _curious_.

“Please don’t tell anybody…” Makoto squeaks out again. He slowly lifts his head up, but doesn’t meet Sousuke’s gaze. Instead, he looks at the lyrics lying out on the table. “I’m gay.”

“Cool. I won’t tell anybody.” Sousuke nods. This time, he isn’t eager to immediately start writing again. He smirks slightly at Makoto, who’s face is absolutely burning. “Who do you like?”

“S-Sousuke!” Makoto cries out, before realising that that actually might have given it away. Though Sousuke doesn’t actually catch on. Phew. “I don’t like anybody.” He pouts.

“That’s what they all say.” Sousuke scoffs, leaning back in his chair and keeping that smirk on his face. He still looks at Makoto, making him even more uncomfortable.

“Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I immediately like someone.” Makoto says a little defensively. Sousuke’s eyes widen and the smirk is wiped from his face.

“That’s not what I was saying.” He argues back, waving him off with a slight shift in his seat. Makoto pouts up at him, he’s a little peeved but he can’t deny that Sousuke really suited that smirk. “Is it Rin?”

“Huh? _No!_ ” Makoto snaps a little, earning a small shrug from Sousuke.

“Nanase?”

“Sousuke, no.” Makoto scolds him. He really doesn’t want to play this game.

“That new guy in your club?” Sousuke says, slowly regaining his smirk. He knows that Makoto is being serious. He’s just teasing him for fun. Hopefully Makoto understands.

“I’m telling you, I don’t like anybody.” Makoto argues back, suddenly feeling a little butterfly in his stomach. Sousuke’s smirk is back, and he’s about to make him confess. This is not how he wanted anything to go. He might as well tell him, as he’s going to make him spill anyway.

“Come on, is it the other guy in the club?” Sousuke raises an eyebrow. Makoto then decides that he really likes it when Sousuke makes that face, but he also decides that enough is enough.

“Stop it, Sousuke!” Makoto cries out, looking off out into the window at the birds singing their morning song. Something he should be doing now. But he can’t. Now’s the time. “Alright, fine.”

Sousuke’s eyes widen again as he stays silent. There _is_ someone?

His eyes widen even more as Makoto slowly turns back to look back at him, using those sweet puppy eyes and frown. His cheeks are a faint pink, as are the tips of his ears. Makoto doesn’t even have to say anything. His face gives it all away. He turns his head again when Sousuke opens his mouth, his expression softening into one of concern.

“... _Me_ _?”_ Sousuke says, sounding surprised. A lot. He wasn’t expecting that, but now that he thinks about it, as Makoto looks down at his hands and gives a small nod, that does make sense. That explains all those times that he was so nervous around him. But… “How long?”

“Sousuke, _don’t_.” Makoto cuts in, sounding and looking a little saddened.

Sousuke decides to listen to him this time. He did just tell the guy he was straight, after all... He takes the pen into his hands and turns to write a few more things on the paper. Anything to take that look off of his face.

“L-let’s just continue, right?” Sousuke says, looking back at Makoto in the corner of his eye, still seeing him looking defeated. Shit. He’s really done it now.

“Right…” Makoto mutters back, slowly looking back at Sousuke, who’s gone back to analysing the lyrics. _The lyrics._ Makoto freezes for a minute in a moment of panic as he silently watches Sousuke before bursting out. “Ah! Those lyrics! They’re not about you, I promise!”

Sousuke looks back to Makoto, a little frightened, nodding slowly.

Makoto winces at this. Has he gone and made Sousuke uncomfortable now? Great. Everything he wanted. Today has been a complete shambles. He thinks about getting out his keyboard, before looking at his watch.

But the moment he looks upon the small clock, the school’s bell rings. And as it rings, Sousuke caps his pen and stands from his seat.

“You can have those back, by the way.” Sousuke mutters, tucking his pen back into his pocket, collecting his blazer and walking off towards the door, pausing before opening it. “I just left a few comments and suggestions for you to consider…” He mutters.

As the bell’s ring comes to an end, Makoto takes a moment to actually look down at what Sousuke has scrawled onto the paper. He’s not lying, there are a few suggestions, to take it down a pitch, slow down on certain parts, to play softer on certain parts. As his eyes read further and further down the page, he feels like everything that Sousuke has written is being repeated.

He’s about to fold it up in defeat and shove it into his pocket, but before he can do so, there’s a small scribble of Sousuke’s handwriting in the corner of the page that catches his attention.

‘ _you’re cute_.’

Makoto’s eyes widen slowly at the message, reading it over a few times, before looking up and catching the door closing.

Maybe, just maybe, he has a chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well done sousuke ya dun goofed. (( s/o if u got my tobimaru ref lmao
> 
> TADAAAAAA  
> SOUMAKO !! PROGRESS !! WERE ALMOST THERE KIDS
> 
> I'm feeling this chapter a whole lot tbh. I really hope all of you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions regarding this fic and its updates! I love hearinf your feedback!
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	24. For The Team?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the six come together. Does it go down well? Who knows?
> 
> me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [karu where the piss did you go this time](http://karumello.tumblr.com/post/149155000647/updates-regarding-personal-shit-20-and-ebimc-c24)
> 
> Thank you to those who have been patient with me.

“Millionaire… Millionaire…” Rei sits at his desk, mumbling early in the morning. It’s fairly early, as there are only a few other people in his class as of now. He taps a neatly sharpened pencil against a small sheet of paper; Makoto’s lyrics, to be exact. Despite not being the biggest fan of them, he did say that he would help him out, his secret mission being to make them less cutesy and cliche… On the paper in front of him is the word “Millionaire” which is also to be believed as the title of the song, surrounded by smaller words to associate with millionaires. He ponders at them endlessly, trying to relate them to romance.

“Rei-chan! What are you doing?” A voice suddenly pops up behind him, making the pencil slip out from between his fingers, hitting the floor with a small thud.

“Ah! Nagisa-kun, don’t do that!” Rei yelps, turning to scowl at him, being met with an innocent smile and shimmering pink eyes. Nagisa giggles to himself before leaning over Rei’s table, as Rei himself ducks to pick up the pencil again, glowering at how its sharp point is now blunt and grazed.

“Eheh, sorry… Are you writing lyrics?” Nagisa leans down even further, looking over the paper that Rei has sat in front of him, before realising that the majority of the things written down are in Makoto’s handwriting, and sulking. “Hmm… Mako-chan’s lyrics are so icky..”

“I know what you mean, but at least he’s written something for you all.” Rei looks up to Nagisa with a tight frown. Nagisa groans and lowers himself over the desk, still leaving room for Rei to write. 

“It’s a good thing that we don’t have to sing it.” Nagisa comments, smiling, making himself feel better. Rei stares down at Makoto’s handwriting, thinking for a moment longer. He doesn’t even know how the lyrics are sung…

“Makoto-senpai.. He’s a good singer, yes?” Rei asks, slightly puzzled. He’ll admit that he’s wanting to hear Makoto singing the lyrics, but at the same time…

“I dunno.” Nagisa shrugs. As he turns away for a moment to get himself a chair and pull it up to Rei’s desk, Rei’s eyes are blown wide in disbelief as he watches Nagisa settle down in a seat facing him, shuffling closer under the table and wearing a smile that doesn’t seem to be fading any time soon. 

“You don’t know? You’ve never heard Makoto-senpai sing before?” Rei yelps, surely attracting the attention of the other few early risers in their class. Nagisa then is finally affected by Rei’s sudden realisation. His own eyes widen and he leans back a bit in his chair. “How do you know if he’s a good singer?”

“Sou-chan is training him to sing though, Rei-chan! Don’t start to worry!” Nagisa brushes him off, holding up his hands in defence. Though, that doesn’t help any more. Rei drops the pen onto the paper as he stares Nagisa down.

“Training him? So he _ can’t _ sing in the first place? Will he have time before your live shows?” Rei argues, putting a confused look on not only Nagisa’s face, but also the faces of their other classmates. Live shows?

“Live shows?” Nagisa voices his thoughts. He raises an eyebrow and tilts his head at Rei, who looks as if he’s ready to give up on life. 

“Yes. The Chorus club are holding a live show at the first year’s opening ceremony. Aren’t the Music club doing something similar?” Rei says, looking a little annoyed. Nagisa blinks slowly. Rei lowers his head and sighs. “ _ Just what have I left them for _ ?”

“A live show… Rei-chan! You’re a genius!” Nagisa suddenly cheers, gripping Rei’s wrist before he can make another move to grab the pencil that he dropped. He’s suddenly pulled up from his desk, and tugged away out of the classroom, being lead away by a blond energetic mess who laughs childishly.

“Nagisa-kun,  _ let gooo! _ ”

\---

Makoto sits in the middle of his math class, trying to look anywhere but at the figure of the boy in front of him. The two of them just shared their first kiss only minutes before, and they’re the only two people in this room who are aware of it. Thinking about it like that makes him feel a little anxious, but at the same time, it makes him feel a little thrilled. Is that weird? One way or another, he’s happy.

Sousuke on the other hand can’t focus on his work. He sits and stares at the numbers on his page a lot longer than he usually does. He thinks about how they shouldn’t be hard to figure out before his mind wanders elsewhere. 

He can’t believe he just kissed Makoto. Who likes him. Makoto likes him. But… Why? He’s not particularly a person who’s likeable, he’ll even admit that himself. He hasn’t spectacularly changed Makoto’s life around, nor has he even spent a lot of time with him. If he doesn’t count the mornings they spend together, lunch, class time and last weekend. 

Okay, so that is  _ some _ time spent together, but what is it about him that makes Makoto attracted to him? Is it his way of doing things? It's a little strange to be attracted to the way people do things, Sousuke thinks, but then again, he has no idea what Makoto’s into. 

_ You. He's into you. _

Sousuke stares even harder into his book, both in frustration and confusion. He kissed a guy a who’s into him, who confessed his sexuality to him, and he doesn't even like him back. And of course he doesn't want to hurt him, he's not an asshole. 

But what can he do?

_ “suke… Sousuke _ !” Someone hisses, dragging Sousuke out of his thoughts, shaking his head. He looks around suddenly and catches Rin looking back at him.

“What?” Sousuke mutters back, trying to calm down a little so that Rin doesn't think anything of his little daze. Luckily his plan works, and Rin doesn't question it. Instead, he makes a small motion with his hand, as if he were rubbing something out. Sousuke nods back at him, reaching over to retrieve his rubber for Rin, handing it over quietly.

That was close. Thank God this is maths class, otherwise he would have been done for. Then again, Rin is aware of the fact that Sousuke is good at math.

Sousuke himself turns back to the paper, and finally pens down some workings out, glaring down at the paper again.

He wonders if maybe Makoto is thinking of the same thing. Hopefully he is. Makoto looks like the kind of person who’s good at taking responsibility for things. Then again, he kissed Makoto. It isn’t the other way around, so this is his responsibility.

In a sense, he regrets it. But at the same time, he doesn’t. He can’t place a finger on why. 

Maybe because now he can tell others that he’s had his first kiss and he won’t sound like a loser? Yeah, that’s it. Probably.

He jumps suddenly when his rubber suddenly lands back in front of him without warning. His pen flies out of his hold, he doesn’t have an idea where it lands, but everyone around him is aware of it, thanks to Rin’s annoying little snicker from besides him.

“Quiet in the back, thank you.” Their teacher says, sounding a little annoyed. Rin’s laugh suddenly comes to a halt, and his head is back down on his desk. 

Sousuke takes a silent moment for himself in small embarrassment before subtly looking around on the floor for his pen. It isn’t in front of him, nor is it to the side of him. Did it roll under Rin’s desk? With that in mind, he leans to his left to see a clear view of under said boy’s desk. He can’t see it though. Crap. That was his only pen.

After a couple of seconds of more frantic looking, he feels a small tap on his shoulder.

His eyes widen a little in surprise, before slowly looking back over his shoulder, being met with warming green eyes that slant slightly. Have his eyes always slanted like that? He then realises that his pen is being held out to him, as Makoto lifts it up so that it covers one of his eyes. Sousuke reaches out and takes it back, thinking for a moment and then nodding at Makoto and turning back to his desk.

He keeps a tight hold of his pen as he gets back to doing his work.

\---

“I can’t believe you got kept behind for that.” Sousuke says, looking to his side at a furious Rin, who chews on his lunch slowly. This time, it’s Sousuke’s turn to laugh. 

“Somebody must have called me out on it, or she caught me.” Rin mutters, stabbing at a piece of pork with his chopsticks. Haruka watches his actions a little cautiously. “I was  _ literally _ just passing a rubber back to you.  _ How _ does  _ that _ sum up as  _ cheating _ ?” Rin snaps, sitting up, looking across at the others, before sitting back in a slump and sulking. “Bullshit…”   


“It’s just a rubber. Calm down, Rin.” Haruka says calmly, removing the lid from his own bento and feeling a sense of release from looking at his mackerel. Sousuke shakes his head at him as he notices this.

“ _ You _ can’t say anything.” Rin barks, suddenly turning his argument on Haruka. “You get away with taking your damn MP3 player out, shoving it up your ass and doing some weird kind of wire looping around your body to listen to it.” He growls.

“Because I’m good at being discreet. You aren’t.” Haruka looks back at Rin with a small scowl. “And I put it on my leg.” He adds. Rin rolls his eyes.

“Rubbers are actually allowed during lessons, I’ll have you know.” Rin digs at him, making a false look of surprise, before dramatically turning his head back to his lunch and shoving the pork into his mouth.

Makoto opens his mouth before Haruka can butt in with any other smart remarks and start an argument.

“Now, now you two, we’re all aware that you’ve done things wrong before whilst in the eyes of education but-”

“Bullshit! I passed a rubber to Sousuke and-”

“ _ Rin-chan! Haru-chan! Mako-chaaan! _ ” A voice calls, turning all of their heads. They’re greeted by Nagisa running over towards them, smiling widely and holding a rather aggressive grip on Rei’s wrist, who seems to be struggling with keeping up, and struggling with Nagisa in general.

“Nagisa, slow down! And let go of him!” Makoto calls back, scolding him when he comes nearer towards the quartet. Nagisa laughs a little nervously, letting go of Rei, who immediately goes to rubbing his wrist absentmindedly. 

“Sorry, sorry, I’m just excited to tell you all something!” He exclaims, kneeling down besides Sousuke, not even greeting him or apologizing for putting the completely lost look on his face. 

“What is it?” Rin asks, leaning forwards curiously, forgetting about his little tantrum.

“We’re doing a live show!” Nagisa sings cheerfully, raising his arms in the air happily, smiling at them all. 

Haruka puts down his lunch for a moment, looking at Nagisa seriously with sharp eyes as the others just look plain surprised. Rei dusts himself off before sitting down besides Nagisa, and folding his arms as soon as he does so, he clears his throat.  
  
“I explained to him this morning that the Chorus club were preparing for a live show for the first year’s welcoming ceremony, accidentally giving him the idea that the Music club should do the same. I apologise for any conveniences I may have caused.” Rei speaks slowly, fixing his glasses mid sentence, taking on the role as the sensible one from the two.

“It’s fine, Rei.” Haruka nods, turning instinctively to look at Rin.

“Right.. Then.” He says slowly, looking down at the ground as a smile slowly forms on his face. “That’s great!” He beams suddenly, deepening the confused feeling within the others. “This is our time to shine right? Our time to finally get out there.” Rin looks around at the others, spreading the smile that Nagisa gives off.

“Yeah…” Makoto wears the same smile across his face, not thinking about the consequences of performing live on stage.

“Mako-chan, you’ll be able to sing in front of the first years! Show of your great voice to the entire school!” Nagisa cheers, leaning over towards him, in attempt to spread his cheer.

Makoto’s smile suddenly becomes forced.

If they perform a live show, any live show, he’s going to have to sing in front of a crowd. By himself. No one else. He’ll have to sing his heart out whilst a sea of people sit and penalize him.

Sousuke side-eyes Makoto from where he sits.

Haruka does the same. He knows that Makoto’s smile isn’t genuine. He can tell the difference between a real smile and a fake smile from Makoto.

“Nagisa, don’t get too excited. No offence to you, Makoto-senpai, but you haven’t even heard Makoto-senpai sing, Nagisa-kun.” Rei says, looking down at Nagisa disapprovingly.

“Hmm? Well, Sou-chan looks like a good singer himself, right?” Nagisa nods at Rei before turning to beam up at Sousuke, who looks a little threatened by the sudden compliments.

“Sou-chan?” Sousuke replies a little coldly. Nagisa continues to smile none the less. Rin snickers again from besides them. “And you don’t know that.”   
  
“Nonsense. A bad singer wouldn’t take someone under their wing to train them, right?” Rei adds, looking over at Sousuke himself. Makoto turns his face at the explanation, avoiding any eye contact.

“Ah! Sing for us, Sou-chan!” Nagisa nods excitedly, holding onto Sousuke’s arm. Sousuke is a little reluctant before shaking his arm from Nagisa’s grip.

“No.” Sousuke snaps, looking a little agitated.

“Nagisa, I think it’s best you leave him be. You haven’t even introduced yourself right?” Makoto suggests, in attempt to keep the mood happy.

“Mm!” Nagisa hums, turning to face Sousuke again, who seems to be a bit calmer this time. “My name is Hazuki Nagisa, but you can just call me Nagisa. I’m a first year and the drummer in the band.” 

Rin and Makoto sit and watch in small awe, whilst Haruka goes back to eating his lunch. For some reason, when Nagisa introduces himself, he doesn’t immediately go on and on about his hobbies, or his favourite foods or anything like that. Perhaps they’ve tamed him a little.

Sousuke listens to him before nodding slowly. Nagisa seems a little brash, but then again, Rin was like that when he was younger, right?

“Yamazaki Sousuke. Just Sousuke will do.” He replies, deciding to look away from Nagisa and hopefully end their conversation. He looks straight back at Makoto, who sits facing him. He notices Sousuke’s gaze and smiles back at him.

Sousuke blinks before turning to look over at the others, who’ve already began planning on what to do for their first live show.

“Fireworks! That catches people’s attentions, right?” Nagisa suggests, taking out the small book from his bag again.

“Yeah, it’ll catch attention by setting the building on fire.” Rei replies, obviously having a smart approach to this. “We’ll need to figure out things like software and tech set up. Do we have access to the Music room’s amplifiers?”   


“We’ve been able to use them recently, so I don’t see why not…” Rin says, watching as Nagisa writes down their exact words.

“Right then… We’ll need a few for each instrument, right?” Rei nods, being sure of every word that he says. Nagisa notes this down hastily. “Four instruments? So that’s about... Let’s just say eight amplifiers, correct?”

“What do you play?” Sousuke asks suddenly, catching all of their attentions, but he looks directly at Rei. Rei clears his throat again, before looking back at Sousuke.

“I don’t play anything. I compose for the band.” He nods. Sousuke cocks an eyebrow before turning back to Makoto. 

“I thought that was your job?” He asks Makoto.

“Well, we were lucky enough to have Rei come to us to help me compose lyrics and music.” Makoto smiles as usual, giving Sousuke a small shrug.

“So what do you do during practice?” Sousuke says, getting back to Rei, who looks a little conflicted. 

“I compose of course, but I also learn plenty about making music and what it’s like to be in a band.” Rei replies slowly, keeping an eye on Sousuke’s expression. He can’t help but feel that he’s a little… intimidating.

“Do you sing?” Sousuke asks.

“I do not.”

“Well, you’ve shown interest in wanting to play something, right?” Rin butts in, making Rei blush a little. The other boy turns his head away from the group.

“Well… That would be partially correct.” He mumbles, putting a faint smile on the other’s faces.

“So why don’t you?” Sousuke says, speaking above whatever Rin had to say in reply. Rei looks back to Sousuke after a short moment, trying to come up with a suitable response.

“I have no experience with playing an instrument, and they are all proving to be a challenge for me.” Rei nods back at Sousuke, whose frown seems to be deepening.

“So what? Are you just going to give up? You can’t show an interest and not go ahead with it, it’s wasting your time. If you truly feel that way about something, you go ahead with it. You don’t stand back and watch. Take action.” Sousuke replies sternly, his stare growing stronger. Rei looks a little terrified. The others are stunned to a silence, apart from Haruka, he looks up at Sousuke a little oddly.

“Sousuke…” Rin mutters, watching him. It’s a little saddening that Sousuke himself can speak from experience. 

Makoto looks over at him with a small frown, this can double as advice for himself. He stays quiet as he goes back to eating his lunch.

“Then… I’ll learn something.” Rei sits up straight, placing his hands on his hips. This time, all heads turn towards him. The frown disappears from Rin’s face, as he lightens up a little.

“Really?” Nagisa beams up at him. Rei nods and smiles back at him, as if Sousuke has knocked some sense into him. Sousuke himself watches the two exchange for a moment, before taking his bag and pulling out his own lunch.

“Yes. I just don’t know what…” Rei mumbles, placing a finger to his lips in thought. “The drums were far too complicated, and it would take a miracle for me to figure them out.”

“Mm. You should all appreciate me more.” Nagisa jokes, dramatically turning away from him.

“Besides, having two drummers wouldn’t be right..” Rei continues to mumble, ignoring Nagisa’s small cry of not being noticed. 

“You liked playing the keyboard, right? Keyboards have different sounds, so we technically wouldn’t be playing the same thing.” Makoto pipes up. He smiles helpfully over at Rei, who ponders again. 

Sousuke takes a different turn to this. He looks to Rei, and then back to Makoto with a slight glower.

“They keyboard is  _ your  _ instrument. Having two would be complicated, and having one experienced player and one new player wouldn’t exactly be fair.” He adds, meeting Makoto’s slightly amazed look. Haruka furrows his brow.

“Wow Sou-chan, you really know your stuff!” Nagisa cheers in awe, looking up at Sousuke who refuses to look back at him. 

“I guess that’s right…” Rei mutters. “But then, what can I do?” 

The others sit and ponder with him for a moment, all thinking of Rei accompanied by a range of instruments. For some reason, he just doesn’t seem to suit any of them. 

“Hmm.. This is all _ so terrible _ !” Rei growls, putting his head in his hands. Sousuke cocks an eyebrow at him. This guy sure is theatrical.

“We don’t have a bassist.” Haruka adds simply, focusing on his lunch, zoning in and out of conversation. Rin seems to lighten up again at this, letting out a tiny gasp before looking ahead at Rei.

“Yeah! You could do that!” Rin nods, complemented by Nagisa’s energetic nods of agreement and small noises of surprise.

“But the bass.. It’s a form of guitar, right? You’re all aware of how absolutely horrible I was at playing it yesterday..” Rei replies quietly, looking away. Haruka winces at the memory.

“Like Sou-chan said,” Nagisa nods, clearing his throat and puffing out his chest. “ _ If you truly feel that way about something, you go ahead with it. You don’t stand back and watch. Take action. _ ” He imitates Sousuke’s voice, wearing Sousuke’s exact scowl.

“I’m right here.” Sousuke himself growls, cringing a little as Rin laughs over him.

“Besides, the bass is just a guitar without two of the strings, right?” Rin adds, looking at Rei approvingly. Sousuke feels like he should step in and tell Rin that it’s not just like that, but he can’t admit to anything, for his own sake.

“I guess so. Then, I will purchase myself a bass guitar, and immediately begin my training!” Rei says happily, sitting up and smiling at the others. “That’ll be all I’ll need, and I can drop by at the library for some books to help me.”

“I’ll be glad to teach you all I can, and Haru can do the same right?” Rin nods at Rei before turning to Haruka who nods back mutely. But before he can look back at Rei, he catches on to Sousuke in the corner of his eye and turns to face him fully.

Then he remembers. Sousuke used to play the bass when they were younger. He could teach him. But judging by the serious look on Sousuke’s face, he wants him to keep quiet about it.

Makoto thinks about the same thing from the sidelines.

“Now, just how much will this bass guitar cost me?” Rei asks, still smiling. The others slowly turn to look at him, all wearing the same nervous look, which wipes the smile from his face immediately. “What?”

“Well… If you’re looking for something simple to start with, it may not be the best sounding but,” Rin begins, the pitch of his voice getting higher and higher with reluctance. “Around twenty-four thousand?” He literally squeaks out, preparing himself for Rei’s downright  _ shriek. _

“ _ How much!? _ ” Rei almost screams. Rin winces and ducks his head a little. “My parents won’t even allow me that much in a  _ week! _ The first year’s ceremony is in  _ two weeks _ time!”

“ _ Two weeks!? _ ” The others reply, screeching even higher than Rei did. 

“We haven’t even came up with a bridge yet!” Rin cries out, starting to panic. Nagisa hastily scribbles in his notebook. “Nagisa, what are you writing?”

“A bridge! Come on, we have to get a move on!” Nagisa replies quickly, not taking his eyes off of the paper, without a clue of what he’s actually writing. “Hurry! Is it better do to a drum solo or a guitar!?”

“Uh… Uh..  _ either! _ ” Rin yelps, leaping forward and snatching the pencil from Nagisa’s grip, jotting down whatever comes to his head.

“ _ Are you really this unorganised!? _ ” Rei shrieks in disbelief.

“Hurry, Rin-chan! Go!” Nagisa cheers him on, both out of spite and in panic. Sousuke watches over them all panicking, trying to think of just what he’s gotten himself involved with.

“Makoto.” Haruka mutters, sounding a little concerned, turning to said boy and placing a hand over his arm. His shaking arm. Makoto literally  _ jitters _ in his spot. Haruka seems to be the only calm one out of the group.

Sousuke looks over at Makoto himself, feeling concerned, before turning back to the others, fighting over a notebook whilst Rei screams at the two of them. 

“Hey…” Sousuke begins quietly, seeing that he’s only caught Haruka’s attention, he looks to him before looking to the other three. “ _ Get a hold of yourselves! _ ”

Sousuke’s loud voice immediately stops the trio from arguing. The pencil drops to the ground as Rin and Nagisa both have their hands on the notebook, but look up to Sousuke in surprise. Rei sits back and sighs. Sousuke himself instantly regrets shouting. Maybe he should have said something different.

“You’re going to end up overworking yourselves, rushing everything and making a complete show of yourselves. I don’t mean to put it like that, but that’s how it’s gonna end up if you rush everything. The deadline is short, but you need to think this through.” Sousuke says, a little calmer. He speaks slowly, so that the others can understand him and take his words into consideration.

“Sousuke’s right. We can’t rush it all now. It’s our first live show, we can’t mess it up.” Rin nods happily, sitting back and taking over the conversation. “You seem a clever guy, Rei, so hopefully you’ll be a pro in no time.” 

“Naturally.” Rei smiles and brushes off Rin’s compliment, feeling a little proud of himself. “I just need to figure out how I’m going to get this bass guitar before then…”

“Why don’t you work a part-time job?” Haruka suggests, still keeping an arm on the ever-shaking Makoto.

“That would be a good idea.” Rin nods, turning back and looking at Rei hopefully.

“It would, but I would have to go through interviews and who knows how much I’d be payed…” Rei mutters, looking back down at the ground in thought.

“Rin-chan could buy you one. He’s loaded!” Nagisa added, being cut off by a short choking noise, coming from Rin exactly.

“H-hey! I don’t do these kinda things! You have to earn it!” Rin replies, as politely as he can. He probably could, but then again… He’ll have to save money aside for other things, too.

“I wouldn’t want Rin-senpai to buy it for me, in fact, I agree. I have to earn it.” Rei nods, putting Rin at ease and placing a small pout on Nagisa’s face. “I suppose I’ll have to let my parents know and see what they say…”

“That would be the best for now.” Sousuke adds, though he wasn’t exactly paying attention to the conversation just now. He was more or less focusing on Makoto’s shivering hands. He looks a lot calmer, listening in to the conversation quietly.

“Well… How about we all put in together?” Makoto suggests kindly. Haruka nods from besides him. Rei looks up at him slowly, a little surprised.

“No, I could never! Like I said, I’d rather earn-”

“That could help, though.” Rin shrugs, glancing over at Rei who now looks mildly confused. “I don’t mind.” 

“Yeah, me neither!” Nagisa grins, turning to Rei excitedly. “Let’s see, we should all put in two-thousand yen, and you can make the rest of it up, right Rei-chan?”

Rei is a little stunned for a moment. That makes it ten-thousand yen, and he just has to make up the other fourteen himself. He thinks for a moment longer, before realising something.

“A-ah! Sousuke-senpai, I’m not expecting you to-”

“Nah, I’ll do it” Sousuke shrugs, closing his eyes for a moment before looking to the group, who all look back at him a little confused. “It helps the band, right?” He says, looking directly at Rin, who smiles back at him.

“Everyone… Thank you.” Rei says slowly. They smile back at him, except for Haruka and Sousuke. “As soon as the instrument is mine, I’ll read and practice hard!” 

“Yahoo! Then, we’re good to go!” Nagisa cheers, holding his hand out into the center of the six. 

Rei blinks for a moment before catching on, placing his hand over Nagisa’s, Rin follows, grinning widely, followed by Haruka, unamused. Makoto is a little late to place his hand over Haruka’s, his fingers still shake slightly. The five look to Sousuke, awaiting him to join in. 

Sousuke can’t help but think of this as a little cringeful, but he rolls his eyes and joins in nonetheless. He places his hand over Makoto’s. Makoto’s fingers slowly stop shaking.

“Uh… Do we have a motto?” Rei asks, staring blankly at all of their hands together. The rest of the group fall silent, and suddenly, the moment doesn’t seem as sentimental as it seemed.

“We don’t.” Haruka says, also looking at their pile of hands.

“Hmm... I’ve got it!” Nagisa jumps a little in place, budging all of their hands. “For Rei-chan finally figuring out what he wants to play, For Sou-chan being smart and for Ever Blue’s first live show!”

“...What was the first line again?” Makoto asks shyly. 

“Rin. Your hand is sweaty.” Haruka comments flatly.

“For the team?” Rin suggests, completely ignoring Haruka’s little comment. Rin sounds a little unsure of himself. Nagisa tilts his head at him curiously. 

“Team? But we’re a band…” Nagisa whines, pouting at Rin. 

“Well, bands can be teams too, right? For the band just sounds weird..” Rin frowns, looking down at the pile of hands, noticing and feeling Haruka trying to pull his away, probably to continue eating his beloved mackerel.

“For Ever Blue.” Haruka says, gaining all of their attention. He wears a serious face, forcing the others to believe that he’s being serious, when in reality, he really wants to have this cliche moment over with and finish his lunch.

The others look to each other happily, nod, and pull their hands away, much to Haruka’s joy. As well as Haruka, the rest of the band go about eating their lunches, making it a little awkward for them all, now that it’s silent again.

“Remind me we’re never doing that again until we come up with something.” Rin mutters between bites, followed by a chorus of;

“Agreed _. _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> palms sweaty rins spaghetti
> 
> yay!! so there we have it, the long awaited chapter. i think. idk.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, as I literally had to sit myself up str8 and slapp my own ass to write it 
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
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> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions regarding this fic and its updates! I love hearing your feedback!
> 
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	25. Change of Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "im not gay" - sousugay yamahomo 2k16
> 
> thats it
> 
> thats the summary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hallo! Yes this update is also kinda late, but I'm improving right? Also things at home are looking up to be getting better...
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter, as I put my heart soul and ass into it. literally.
> 
> please leave me some feedback! <3 they're my biggest pushes to get chapters out faster!

The train is due in seven minutes.

Sousuke stands alone that afternoon at the train station, patiently awaiting his ride home. Today has been rather eventful. He can’t possibly forget any of it, and to be fair, he’s unsure of whether he wants to forget any of it. It was interesting, both meeting Rin’s friends, and what happened this morning.

He wonders how Makoto is coping in the music room right now. It hit him earlier, when he finally put his head down and got some work done in his maths class, that Makoto must have walked to school this morning without his instrument with both Rin and Haruka, and now it’s just magically appeared after school, now that he’s returned it to him. Will he tell them he left it at his place?

No. He can’t. He knows Rin all too well, and he’ll be quick to jump to suspicions. Nanase doesn’t look too clever himself, but he knows Makoto more than anybody else apparently. Makoto better keep his mouth shut. There’s nothing going on between the two, as much as it feels like there is. Why are they keeping it a secret?

Well, they did kiss, and Makoto’s sexuality is his secret. But then again, he doesn’t know if Makoto’s friends already knew about his sexuality. Maybe Makoto just didn’t want to tell Sousuke because, well, he likes him.

If he’s being honest, Sousuke is a little flattered. He’s never had a _guy_ admit to him that they like him. When he was back in Tokyo, he was told that he was very mature and handsome for a first year, by older girls, and he even had a few of them ask him out. Each one of them he declined. And now Makoto is added to that list. The list isn't that long, but if he keeps it up it’s going to get longer. Is that a selfish thing to think about?

Still, he never expected to ever have a guy join the list. Not that he has anything against gays, he kissed him first for crying out loud.

He’s still unsure on whether Makoto has told the others. For all he knows, they could all be sitting there knowing what happened, and discussing it. That thought alone makes Sousuke a little anxious. He tells himself repeatedly that they aren’t, and that he trusts Makoto. But he doesn’t know why. Maybe it’s just an instinct thing.

Now he feels like his brain is playing tricks on him. Ever since Makoto has came out to him, and admitted that he likes him, he can’t stop thinking about it. When he came back to Iwatobi, he didn’t think that his first weeks back at school would involve joining a music club and kissing guys.

Hm. Makoto’s lips were kinda soft. Has he been preparing them for that moment exactly? He wonders if Makoto always thinks about kissing him. Huh… It’s kinda cute when he thinks about it that way. He can’t deny that, denying it now would just be pointless.

He doesn’t like Makoto back, but… He can’t upset him. He’s overall a nice guy, and he _is_ cute. He also has a nice ass, which was proved when he bent over in front of him that day, it’s always a bonus. It's normal for guys to think other guys are cute and have nice asses, right? Of course it is. He’s not gay. Writing down his thoughts on a piece of paper and handing it to him is kinda childish and so cliche, but how else was he supposed to cheer him up?

Should he feel sorry for Makoto? He doesn't know… He didn't break his heart or anything did he? Rin and Nanase would kick his ass if he did. Dear God, what has he gotten himself into?

Nothing. This is _nothing_ . You kissed, and it’s _over with._ No more thinking about it. He might have hurt Makoto a little, but he’ll get over it and find somebody new. Stop thinking about it.

Exactly on queue, he hears the train coming down the tracks. He closes his eyes. The sound of the train against the railroad is like thunder, fast and heavy, like his heartbeat.

Wait. Why is his heart beating fast?

It’s safe to say the passengers are a little surprised when the doors open, revealing Sousuke’s enraged face. The self-infuriated boy walks down towards the end of the train, where it’s empty, and doesn't even bother taking out his earphones as he sits down.

Sousuke glares at his reflection, peach and raspberry skies painted over a tight, vexed stare, mentally telling himself to _stop_ _thinking about it._

_Huh. Does Makoto ever have to do this?_

The young couple sat in the seats in front jump slightly when the sound of Sousuke’s forehead colliding with the window echoes.

_\---_

Makoto on the other hand is fairly happy. He got his kiss, and he even got a sweet compliment from Sousuke. That's all he wanted, right?

He sits beneath the window, at the table, where he usually sits, penning down some new lyrics that hit him today. They're still dusted with their typical cutesy feel, but nothing else is coming to mind, and their performance is very soon.

Soon. Soon he’ll have to sing by himself in front of his school. It's a big pressure, of course it is, but with his bandmates, and Sousuke behind him, he should be okay. Sousuke is a great singer, and he’s going to help him to sound better.

Ahh… He would do anything to hear him sing again.

His keyboard is hidden away in the stock cupboard, which he has been secretly protecting for the past half an hour. If any of the others go into the cupboard, they’ll see Makoto’s keyboard sitting there, and he’ll have some explaining to do. How he’s going to sort this one out, he’s no clue.

His eyes widen when he hears two chairs being pulled up in front of him. He looks up suddenly, catching both Rin and Rei’s attentions as he quickly displays a smile.

“Sorry, Makoto-senpai, you can return to your writing.” Rei apologises first. He takes a seat facing him, whilst Rin takes the seat next to it. “If you’d like, I can help you again.”

“The sheet you gave me is helping me out a lot. I think I’ll be okay from now on. Thank you, Rei.” Makoto nods politely, distracting Rei with a bright smile as he moves his arms to cover up his lyrics a little. Rin chuckles at the sight.

“You won't mind us being here then?” Rin asks, sitting up and reaching for a plain piece of paper and a pencil, which Makoto seems to be hoarding.

“Not at all. You're taking your breaks now, right?” Makoto asks, frowning a little when Rin shakes his head. He sure is hard-working…

“I'm going to write up a simple bass line for Rei.” Rin replies, hastily drawing a rough stave on the paper. “Since the live show is kinda soon, I want to work on it right away, even though he doesn't have his bass yet.”

“Rin-senpai… You're not like what the papers said at all.” Rei mutters, watching Rin’s hand stop. Makoto winces for him.

“...Yeah.” Rin mutters. “They say things.”

Haruka listens quietly, sitting on the bench as he eats the leftovers from his lunch. Nagisa sits besides him, sipping on his strawberry milk.

“Besides, I can learn from writing these, too.” Rei fills in, seeing that he’s made it a little awkward. “About sheet music, and-”

“Wait, so you _can’t_ read music?” Rin replies, assumingly out of his mood. His eyebrow is raised, looking a little more than confused.

“I cannot.” Rei replies. Though he says it with a straight face, it’s evident that he’s a little reluctant to admit that.

“I thought you composed! Isn't that what composers do?” Rin cries, now baffled. His voice gets higher again with each word.

“Let's say I directed.” Rei begins. “The other members of the composing team would write, the singers would perform, and I would be left to say what needs to be changed.”

Rin’s face lights up, and Makoto puts his head back down. At least he’s happier now.

“That's better, I guess.” Rin smiles, putting his pencil to paper. “Then, we can go over Haru’s and Nagisa’s parts, and you can have your say again.”

“My part is fine.” Haruka speaks from the bench. Rin lifts his head up, and turns to frown at the back of Haruka’s head.

“To you it might be, but it might not be to Rei.” Rin replies, finally meeting Haruka's eye when he turns his head a little, glaring at him from side on.

“Rei thinks my part is fine, too.” Haruka adds. Rin frowns fully, turning around.

“Rei hasn't said-”

“I do actually believe that Haruka-senpai is doing a good job.” Rei adds, putting a small surprised look on Rin’s face. Maybe he was being a little hard on him…

“What about me?” Nagisa springs up, sitting on his knees and facing the other two with an impatient smile. Rei hums in thought.

“Nagisa-kun, you could do with some work in some areas.” Rei suggests. Nagisa groans and slumps back in his seat, pouting at the drum kit in front of him.

“Haru-chan, what do you think?”

“Hm.”

“What? _You too_ Haru-chan?”

Makoto laughs softly at the exchange between his friends. Rin and Rei get to work on their bass line, and he should probably get back to work too. He wears a confident smile as he ducks his head down, but it doesn’t stay for long, as the lyrics stare back at him, transferring over a flurry of feelings.

A kiss _was_ all he wanted. Right?

\---

 _“Rin honey, make sure you have those papers filled out before tomorrow.”_ His mother calls from downstairs.

Rin sits alone at his desk that evening, an earphone in one ear. All of his lights are off, the curtains are drawn back, and the only light in his room is coming from his TV screen in one corner, and his little red desk lamp in the other corner. The lampshade illuminates a soft orange.

In front of him on his desk, lays his English book, half completed homework in front of him. Besides that, is the bassline that he and Rei wrote. It’s fairly simple, but it’s down to Rei whether they can complicate it a little more. He thinks that Rei will be a good bass player, if he’s going to be _that_ dedicated.

But asides from that, what his mother has reminded him of are the papers that he has to fill out of his father’s. Even though he has passed, it’s still their family’s priority to sort out the paperwork that his music still provides. For example, it’s Rin’s job to sign off the streaming royalties, synchronising licenses (advertising companies requesting to use his songs), and once they’re all filled and organised, he has to go over digital downloads, the rest is Gou’s job. She’s in charge of the money distribution. Their mother helps out when she can, but her work schedule is extremely tight.

And since their father died without a will, everything is immediately handed down to his family. His record label practically went out of business after he had died. It’s tough, but it needs to get done.

As he pulls out the semi-thick pile of papers from his drawers, he can't hear the next song beginning in his ear as the sounds of somebody heavy-footed coming up the stairs drowns it out.

Rin takes the earphone out and lifts his head when he hears his bedroom door opening.

“Rin, the local radio called for you whilst you were at school.” His mother says, pushing his door open with an elbow. She walks in behind and dumps a basket full of clean clothes onto his bed.

“Local radio?” Rin repeats, mildly confused. This isn't the first time they’ve called, but they've never called for him specifically before.

“Yes. They wanted to know if you’d be available for an interview this Friday. Your Father’s anniversary is coming up soon.” She continues a little slowly, not looking back at her son.

Rin looks at the papers on his desk a little concerned. That's true. He died towards the middle of May. But… An interview? It's probably one of those interviews where they ask how he’s coping, and what he’s doing to make a change. His mother has done it before. And now it's his turn. It’ll only be a matter of time before they drag his sister into it. He wants to say no, but for his mother’s sake…

“Sure, I'll let them know.” Rin nods. His mother smiles faintly without another word. To be honest, she looks a little tired.. “Mom, I'll do the rest of the washing. You look exhausted. Go and rest.” He instructs, getting up from his chair.

“Thank you, dear.” She says, nodding slowly.

Looks like he’ll have to write that bass line up again tomorrow.

\---

The next morning, Makoto’s alarm goes off a lot earlier than it should. It also sounds a little different to what it usually does. Was that even his alarm?

One of his eyes opens slowly, covered by a layer of messy olive hair. He lifts a tired hand to brush it out of his eyes, before looking over at his clock, which isn't ringing at all. Not just that, but it’s also 6:20 AM. His alarm goes off at seven.

His phone suddenly buzzes on his bedside table. Oh. So that's what it was. Who's texting him this early?

He reaches over for it slowly, wincing a little when the brightness hits him. It takes a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light.

_[Sousuke: makoto. come early today]_

_[Sousuke: are you awake]_

...Sousuke? He wants him to come in early today? Makoto takes a minute to actually wake up before replying to the text.

_[I’m awake. Good morning, Sousuke. Why do you need me to come early?]_

Makoto hold his phone still in one hand, using the other to rub at his eyes whilst he waits for a reply. It comes no longer than a minute later.

_[Sousuke: extra practice. also an excuse for your keyboard. lol]_

Makoto shakes his head slightly at his reply. That is actually a clever idea. He would really love an extra forty minutes in bed right now, but he'd also love a long morning with Sousuke.

_[Sure. Anything I should bring?]_

Bit of a dumb question, but he asked it anyway. He’ll probably only ask him to bring the lyrics or something. Makoto puts his phone aside for a moment, and sits up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and standing slowly, stretching his arms. He should probably start getting ready then. His phone buzzes again behind him.

_[Sousuke: just lyrics. and an umbrella. its raining.]_

Makoto blinks slowly at the message before walking over towards his window and pulling back his curtains, seeing that it is actually raining. Not heavily, but enough to need an umbrella. That was rather thoughtful of Sousuke to say.. Makoto smiles lightly.

_[Will do. Thank you!]_

_[Sousuke: i'll meet you in club room]_

Makoto goes about taking his hair brush and fixing his hair in his mirror. It's usually the last thing he’d do, but for some reason he’s started off with that first. He wants to look good today.

Why? It's not going to change anything..

With that thought in mind, Makoto takes his uniform from the hanger that hangs by his bed, and quickly strips of his clothes. But before he can put his uniform on, his reflection catches his eye in his mirror.

Makoto will always say he isn't one to admire his own body, but with his daily jogs and his exercise, he’s definitely been looking a lot more toned lately. He's kinda proud of himself, and his behind is… Looking bigger? Is that possible?

He then remembers that Sousuke is expecting him at the school soon and hurriedly removes his underwear, fishes out a fresh pair from his drawers, throws them on, and finally dresses in his uniform, stopping to check his clock.

6:30 AM. Not bad.

He dumps his underwear into the wash basket on his way out, heading down towards his bathroom. His parents and his siblings are still asleep. He should probably leave them a note. Speaking of which, he should probably text Rin and Haruka too.

Turning the taps on is a little bit of a mission as much as it shouldn't be, as his mother is a very light sleeper, and will literally wake up to the sound of _anything_. Very unlike her husband, who would sleep through a world war if one were to happen again. He manages to wash his face and brush his teeth without a question being raised within his house. Makoto quickly dashes back out into his room, grabs his blazer, bag and phone and quietly makes his way back down the hallway.

“ _Mmn.. Makoto? Is that you?_ ” A tired voice says, just above a whisper.

Well, that was short lived.

Makoto slowly walks up to his parent’s door and pokes his head around. His mother lifts her head, looking at him a little oddly. He feels a little bad now..

“Yeah, sorry Mom. I'm heading out early to get some extra practice in today.” Makoto apologises softly. She nods slowly, giving him a small smile before laying her head back down.

“Alright darling. Have fun.” She says in reply. Makoto smiles and nods at her, knowing that she can't see, but he doesn't want to interrupt her again.

Taking his bag and throwing it over his shoulder, Makoto closes the door quietly behind him, finally making his way downstairs. He ventures into the kitchen, grabbing himself a bottle of water and a couple of granola bars to eat on the way there. Not forgetting his umbrella which Sousuke reminded him to take today.

He decides to text his friends before he leaves. Just something simple will do.

_[I’ve left early to get some early practice in with Sousuke. Our show is soon! See you in class, sorry if this woke you up!]_

He hastily adds the last part after seeing the 6:36 AM at the top of the screen. Pocketing his phone, he steps outside and closes the door behind him. He opens up the umbrella and begins his quick journey towards the school.

He's a little excited, in all fairness.

\---

Sousuke awaits his arrival, looking out of the window carelessly. His teal eyes scan over the long road, watching as the rain starts to become a little heavier. He likes the rain. The sound is comforting, and the overall look is just relaxing. Being caught in it is a different story altogether.

“Good morning, Sousuke. Thank you for the weather warning.” A warm voice, complete contrast to the weather outside, speaks from behind. He hears the familiar creak of the door closing and turns around.

Makoto stands there, completely dry, wearing that same smile.

“Oh… Don't thank me.” Sousuke replies, turning to face him and walking over a little. “Your first live show is coming up and we’re just getting through the chorus. We really need to pick up the pace.”

“Right. I managed to finish the song last night.” Makoto speaks up, hoping to take the grumpy look off of Sousuke’s face. His little mission is successful, as Sousuke’s face softens slightly.

“That's even better. Let's get to work then.” Sousuke nods curtly, turning swiftly on his heel and walking over towards the table. “What happened to your keyboard by the way? I realised you couldn't have let the others believe it magically appeared.” He continues, trying to hide the small smirk on his face.

“Oh.. I hid it away in the stock cupboard. Luckily they didn't find it.” Makoto laughs softly, going over towards the small cupboard and retrieving said keyboard. He takes it out, and lifts it up onto the table. “I realised you kinda saved me from being caught with it, so thank you..” Makoto mumbles, blushing lightly.

Sousuke looks up at him, seeing the blush appear, and looks away.

“Sure…” He mumbles.

Makoto huffs amusedly through his nose. He’s picked up that Sousuke really doesn't like showing politeness directly. Maybe it embarrasses him.

“Do you want me to play it for you?” Makoto asks, taking the keyboard out of it’s case and placing it down again on the table gently. This time it’s Sousuke’s turn to laugh.

“I'd rather you sung it to me.” He admits, crossing his arms over his chest. Makoto looks back at him, soft expression and slightly flushed cheeks. Cute.

“I haven't done any warming up this morning..” Makoto mutters.

“Excuses, excuses.” Sousuke laughs again. “Lemme see your new lyrics then, at least. Like I said, your live show is soon, so you're gonna have to toughen up your confidence and just do it.”

Makoto takes his word with silence as he reaches into his bag for the lyrics, which are on a completely new piece of paper. He's saved Sousuke from looking back at his little compliment, in a way. He hands over the lyrics, biting his tongue. This is way more embarrassing now that Sousuke knows he likes him.

He almost chews the inside of his lip as he waits for Sousuke to say something, anything. Sousuke himself reads over the lyrics, blank expression, but with one thing on his mind.

“Makoto… Be honest.” Sousuke begins. Makoto's heart drops. “Did you ever think of me when you wrote these?”

Makoto freezes in place. He had a feeling that one was coming. Sousuke looks at him, patiently awaiting an answer.

“The song… It isn't about anybody.” Makoto says, but this time, he doesn't sound as defensive as he usually does. “But… Maybe just a little.” He admits, very quietly.

Sousuke watches as Makoto slowly deflates both in mood and posture. Now he feels even worse. This must be hard or embarrassing for him to admit, but he looks so sad every time he admits something like this. And it’s all his fault.

Sousuke feels awful. There has to be something he can do.

Damnit, why did he ask that?

The new lyrics, they were.. Sweet, like the first half. This has obviously inspired him. He could tell from just reading through them again. There has to be something he can do to make him feel better.

Makoto lifts his head and gives Sousuke another smile as he catches him looking at him. It's then when an idea hits him. He knows he told himself not to but…

“...Do you mind if I record you again?” Sousuke asks, wiping the smile completely clean off of Makoto’s face. It's replaced with a look of pure horror. His eyes shrink slightly and his mouth widens.

“I-I… Sousuke!” Makoto squeaks in small plead. He takes that as a no then.

It looks like there's only one thing he can do.

“Okay. Let me make you a compromise.” Sousuke nods again. Makoto closes his mouth and looks up to him, pouting slightly. “If you let me record you,” He says, slowly looking away. Makoto tilts his head, waiting to find out what Sousuke’s compromise is. “I'll let you kiss me.”

Makoto’s eyes widen. Sousuke watches his every move. His mouth lingers open slightly, as the blush from before makes itself known again. Makoto looks up at him for a second longer before pursing his lips together, lowering his head a little and looking away. He's trying to get Sousuke to stop looking. But he doesn't plan on doing so. Makoto finally stays focused on Sousuke without looking around, wearing his little puppy face.

“... _Promise?_ ” He squeaks out. Sousuke tries his hardest not to break out into a smile from his actions.

“Promise.” Sousuke repeats, no backing out now. He just earned himself another sleepless night. Nice.

Makoto’s small frown slowly turns into a tiny smile. Sousuke struggles to keep a straight face, but pulls through.

“Okay.” Makoto nods, now smiling. That's better. It means he's going to have to kiss him again, but at least it's making him feel better.

“So… Do you still want to play it for me?” Sousuke smirks. Makoto blinks at him before standing from his seat. Sousuke watches him curiously.

“I think I'll sing..” Makoto nods again, moving around to his keyboard. He pretends he didn't hear Sousuke’s puff of laughter.

That sure changed his perspective…

“Are you fine with playing and singing at the same time now?” Sousuke asks curiously, watching him set up quite quickly, though he looks back at Sousuke every now and then and slowing down, probably trying to hide the fact that he’s eager for this.

“Um… A little. I mean, I got there in the end last time right?” Makoto brushes himself off, with a small nervous looking smile.

“You need to work on your confidence, too.” Sousuke adds, standing up from his seat and walking around to the other side of the table where Makoto stands. Makoto himself watches him a little wide-eyed.

“Sousuke, what are you doing?” He asks, looking up at him. Seeing him this close makes him a little excited. Not in _that_ sense, but excited to sing.

“I'm singing with you. You don't look all that confident.” Sousuke admits, looking down at him and slowly regaining his usual serious face. Makoto looks a little taken aback. “Until you get to the new stuff. I don't know that..”

“Right.. So, let's sing?” Makoto nods, looking back at his keyboard before realising that he hasn't even plugged it in yet. He need to calm down a little and take this slow… It's not good to look desperate.

Sousuke quietly watches Makoto's slower movements from one side of the table to the other, squatting down a little as he unplugs the amplifiers that they forgot to take back yesterday and plug in his keyboard.

Sousuke can't deny that he more or less stared at Makoto’s lower half that entire time. He doesn't realise it himself until Makoto returns back to full height.

_Shit. Did he realise? Say something._

“Have you gone over your scales?” Sousuke asks, before Makoto can open his mouth to say whatever he was going to. He watches Makoto, who has suddenly turned silent, as he makes his way back towards the other side.

Makoto halts as he fiddles with the keyboard’s settings. “Uh…”

Sousuke sighs quietly, shaking his head, and Makoto can literally hear him do so.

“I-I can't.” Makoto stutters, turning his head away. Sousuke raises an eyebrow in interest. “I've never sang in front of my parents, or my siblings, or even in my own house before. If I just started singing all of a sudden then they’d all be focusing on me.”

Now is when Sousuke inwardly starts to panic. Is he going to be like this at the live shows? He's never sang in front of the school before, or the majority of his friends. Of course, everybody watching will be focusing on them, but mainly _him._ Can he handle it?

He’s doing this for Rin’s sake. He's not worried about him.

“You'll be able to handle the shows, won't you?” Sousuke asks, trying to mask up the concern in his voice with his serious face never fading. Makoto’s irises shrink suddenly, concerning Sousuke even more.

_Makoto… Does he have-_

“I'll be fine. You're helping me, right?” Makoto cuts off his thoughts, flashing him a bright smile. Sousuke blinks at him for a moment in thought.

“Sure…” He mutters. “Let's just see how you get on without warming up then…” Sousuke continues to mumble, looking down at the keyboard, where Makoto places his fingers.

Makoto silently nods. He's nervous again all of a sudden. He’s done this before but… It's been a while. If a week counts as a while. These next two weeks of practice are going to have to be life changing if he’s going to pull through the live show. But he won't tell Sousuke that. Instead, he’ll take a deep breath, and press the keys, playing the song that his heart sings.

The fact that Sousuke still remembers the tempo, when to come in, and how it actually goes, is still amazing to Makoto. He sings, but he pays more attention to Sousuke’s voice rather than his own.

The two sing through the first verse softly, there isn't any passion between the two, maybe slightly from Makoto’s side, but Sousuke is just singing along as if it were a karaoke. He can blame him. This is Makoto’s song. It's his job to put the passion into it. He then realises that he hasn't messed it up yet. This is a new achievement. That makes him happy, to a point where he can actually feel himself becoming a little more confident.

When the pre-chorus comes in, Sousuke stops singing. Because Makoto gets louder. He stands and watches for a moment, as Makoto’s voice drowns his own out. Makoto’s eyes are closed, and he sings with a small smile. He hasn’t even noticed that Sousuke isn’t singing with him anymore. Sousuke is a little amazed, though, he joins back in at the chorus.

As they sing, Sousuke begins to think about how he may have influenced this song. If it’s partly inspired by him, then Makoto must really think about him a lot. Ah… Here come those bad feelings again. Sousuke glares into the wall in front of him, allowing the smoothness of the lyrics to slowly calm him down. Makoto still seems to be singing happily.

The next verse he’ll sing alone. There’s a small piano instrumental before he begins, his piano movements are slower and not as energetic, as he hasn’t been over this both singing and playing at the same time before.

He takes a deep breath.

 _Morning sunshine,  
_ _The rays paint your face,  
_ _Your millionaire love is a dream,_  
One I’ll have to chase

Makoto sings, a little more gently now that he’s realised he’s on his own this time. Sousuke listens to him quietly, taking in his every move, his every word. A dream he’ll have to chase. Huh.

 _And like that sunshine,  
_ _After time it starts to fall,  
_ _The cycle begins again,  
_ _No sleep,_  
Staring at my wall,

Sousuke really starts to question Makoto’s honesty as he goes back into the pre-chorus. Does he really stay up all night just thinking about it? Now he’s more concerned than anything. If he doesn’t get the right amount of sleep, he’ll have less energy to perform.

He shakes his head, and joins back in at the chorus.  


_So stop stop,  
_ _Taking over my thoughts,  
_ _All of my time that you’ve bought,  
_ _You could never pay me back,  
_ _No,_  
You could never pay me back,

Makoto’s voice gets slightly louder again when Sousuke joins back in. Maybe backing vocals will help him out. That’s proving to be true right now. He can’t help the tiny scratch in Makoto’s voice when he sings the slightly higher parts of the chorus. There’s nothing bad about it. He actually… Kinda likes it. It fits the theme of the song, a little raw, because there’s something you want, so much.

Sousuke looks back at Makoto, almost as if he’s singing to him. He isn’t, but it’s close. Makoto notices this, and bravely turns his head to look up at him slightly again.

" _And I keep,_  
 _Losing track of my mind,_  
 _Spare time is getting hard to find,_  
 _You could never pay me back,_  
 _No,_  
 _You could never pay me back_ ,"

Makoto’s keyboard playing slows down as they reach the end of the chorus, much like it did last time.

 _"And you can try,_ _  
_ _You can try,  
_ _You can try_  
But you’re not a millionaire,"

It’s silent again when they finish. Makoto stops looking up at him, and hides his face as he turns away. Sousuke raises an eyebrow again.

“...Don’t you have a bridge?” Sousuke mutters, loud enough for Makoto to hear. Neither of them want to comment on their actual performance just now.

“I do, I just… Don’t know how to sing that part yet.” Makoto admits, a little shyly, turning his head again. He doesn’t know where to look anymore. Just not at the guy stood right besides him. “Should we work on that now?”

“No.” Sousuke replies simply. Now Makoto looks at him.

“But you said-”

“Didn’t I promise you something?” Sousuke says, a little quietly. He has to hide his small smile _again_ when Makoto’s eyes widen. His mouth opens slowly in realisation.

“Well, y-yes, but…” Makoto continues. But what? But they should carry on singing and work on their live performance? Or they should share something he’s been thinking about all week?

“Go on. I don’t care.” Sousuke says, and then suddenly regrets it. Makoto looks a little defeated for a second, before glancing down at his feet. Sousuke watches him for a moment before stepping closer towards him so that there’s just over an inch between them. He looks away, before letting out a slight mumble. “Kiss me.”

Makoto lifts his head again, getting a little fright from having Sousuke’s face so close to his own again, for a second time. Sousuke gradually looks back at him, looking directly into his eyes. He’s honestly never seen anything so green before in his life.

He suddenly wishes Makoto wouldn’t drag this out any longer, and stop his brain from thinking stupid things.

It seems like Makoto hears his thoughts, as he looks away for a moment, the same pink blush appearing on his cheeks.

“ _W-where do I put my hands?_ ” He asks shyly.

Sousuke rolls his eyes, places his hands over Makoto’s hips, and leans in again. This time, Makoto manages to fully close his eyes before their lips touch for the second time.

He silently blames his reflexes for placing his hands either side of Sousuke’s face.

Makoto’s heart beats fast. Extremely fast. Sousuke’s lips are slightly chapped, sticking to his own, just like how he imagined it. He can feel Sousuke’s nose pressing into his cheek, soft, just like his skin. Makoto can’t help but smile against his lips. This is what he wanted.

It’s shy, but it’s comforting. The sound of the early morning rain hitting the window besides them is helping a lot. It’s not silent, and it helps them both to feel relaxed in each other’s hold. Makoto, though he moves his lips against Sousuke’s smoothly and slowly, tries his best, to just transfer some sort of feeling, _anything_ , over to Sousuke. He slowly moves one of his hands over his cheek, down to rest over his thick, broad, shoulder.

Sousuke feels him smiling again against his lips. He must be happy. His hands against his skin are incredulously warm. Or is that _his_ skin? Before Makoto can pull away with a small smack, Sousuke leans forward again and captures his lips quickly, one last time. Pressing a small chaste kiss to his soft, pink lips.

He doesn’t know why he did that. He blames it on his reflexes, or to make him feel better later or something. He’ll never admit that it felt good.

When Makoto opens his eyes again, his hand that still holds Sousuke’s face is a completely different colour to Sousuke’s skin. Or should he put that the other way around. Sousuke’s cheeks are bright pink, as are the tips of his ears. His skin burns under his touch. It’s kind of adorable. Even the grumpy little pout on his face.

As soon as he flashes Sousuke that smile that tells him exactly what he’s thinking, Sousuke thinks of something to completely eradicate that _stupid_ smile from his face.

“Alright. Now that you’ve gotten what you wanted, it’s about time you let me record you.” Sousuke mutters under his breath.

Makoto’s happy face falls completely. He looks a little like a deer caught in headlights. His grip on Sousuke loosens, to a point where he eventually lets go of him. He steps back, and watches as Sousuke moves to retrieve his phone. The smile returns faintly as Sousuke turns his back from him fully, hiding his burning face.

Today is going to be a day to remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay! there we have it! i had a lot of fun writing this chapter and i cant wait to write more soumako in the future !!
> 
> Also, I apologise for the literal cringeness of Makoto's lyrics. They get better in l8er chapter pls have faith in me y'all
> 
> see you next chapter for more of the adventures of totally straightsuke 
> 
> \---
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions regarding this fic and its updates! I love hearing your feedback!
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	26. Honest Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin's interview, a sudden call, but most importantly, does sousuke yamazaki is gay?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reasons why karumello is the worst fic writer](http://karumello.tumblr.com/post/150944284202/ebimc-update-tonight-more-okay-im-gonna-try)

“You have a diary?” 

Sousuke tilts his head in confusion, looking straight ahead at Rin, who sits hunched over his desk, writing something down in a small black book. He writes hastily, not taking his eye off of the paper in front of him.

It’s Thursday morning, the day before Rin’s interview, and the morning after Makoto and Sousuke’s interesting practice. They sit in their homeroom, awaiting Miho’s return for English class. The weather is much better today.

“I have to. I’m not organised if I don’t. I have to note down days when my Mom is out late so that I can get paperwork done, or when I need to get shopping, or practice and stuff…” Rin mutters, his hand never stopping. 

“Oh…” Sousuke mumbles back. It sucks that Rin already has such a busy life for his age. Of course, as a student, his life must already be busy, but that, as well as the pressure and things that come with being a celebrity’s child, must be pretty hectic.

“I didn’t finish my dad’s paperwork until late last night, so I didn’t have time to note things down in here.” Rin continues, flipping through pages and making sure he’s writing the right things down on certain days.

“Have you slept much Rin?” Makoto joins in from behind. From there, he can see Rin shaking his head. Makoto sighs through his nose, frowning lightly. He wonders if Gou is like this, too.

“I got about six hours,” Rin speaks, noting down a few more things before flipping the pages again. “But I have to sleep tonight, for sure.”

“Of course you have to!” Makoto says, leaning forward on his desk. “It’s not very healthy for you to be running on minimum amount of sleep in order to finish all of your work…”

“I know..” Rin nods, closing the diary for a moment and turning to face his friends. Even Haruka sits up, earphone-less, listening to what they have to say. “I have an interview tomorrow at the local radio station.”

Each one of his friends are then silent for a moment. Haruka cranes his body to the side since he’s sat behind Rin, hoping to hear a little more on what he has to say. Makoto leans forward on his desk, now completely curious. Sousuke doesn’t move.

“An interview?” Makoto repeats, cocking his head to the side. Rin looks back at him and nods. He doesn’t seem to be smiling or anything...

“Yeah.” Then he smiles. “You remember when my dad always used to go down towards Samezuka Station Radio for those interviews about his new songs and stuff?” Rin begins. Makoto suddenly mirrors Rin’s smile. “Well now they want me to go down and talk to them about his anniversary…” He finishes.

“Tomorrow?” Sousuke says, though he sounds a little more agitated than excited. Rin turns to him, detecting his sudden attitude.

“Yeah.. Early morning. I have to let the school know..” Rin nodded, muttering that last part to himself. 

Sousuke stays silent. He feels his body slowly becoming heavier, a strange feeling in his gut, and now he’s really uncomfortable. Samezuka Station Radio… 

_ Shit. _

“Something wrong?” Rin asks, looking a little concerned. He notices the sudden switches in Sousuke’s facial expression.

“No.” Sousuke shakes his head slowly, turning back to his work before realising that there isn't any work set in front of him.

“Okay…” Rin looks at him a little longer. Sousuke seems to be acting a little oddly all of a sudden. It’s just an interview…

Sousuke nods slowly, looking back to the group, normally, though he still thinks to himself on the inside. It's not that he doesn't want Rin to be facing such an interview on his own, or that this could affect him badly by talking about such a heavy matter to the public, though, he is low key worried about that. What's he's scared of the most, is that he knows that  _ he'll  _ be listening. He always listens to that station.   
  
It's just an interview about his dad... The hosts won't ask him about his school or his friends. Right?   
  
He'd ask Rin  _ now _ what they would ask him about, but he doesn't want to pressure him into anything. All he can do for now is just hope that they ask about his father, and that's all.   
  
But... He knows deep in his gut that they won't. He's done for.

“Are you nervous?” Makoto asks, concern evident in his voice. Rin turns to face both him and Haruka a little more, shrugging softly. 

“Well, kind of.” Rin replies, sounding a little nervous even in just saying that. He smiles sheepishly at Makoto, who can’t help but feel a little worried for both Rin, but now Sousuke as he’s turned away from the conversation completely. 

“Are you going to go?” Haruka asks. Rin raises an eyebrow at him, looking over a little confusedly. Haruka’s straight face doesn’t say a thing.

“Of course… Why wouldn’t I?” Rin speaks softly. Why are his friends all of a sudden being weird about this?

“If you’re going to worry about it, then it’s best not to go.” Haruka states, looking Rin dead in the eye. Now he feels weird.

“But… I’m not worrying. I’m just a little nervous.” Rin looks back at him, starting to feel a little panic coming on. “What? You think I’m not ready?”

“That’s not what I’m saying.” Haruka says, looking up at Rin a little sternly. He knows that deep down this interview is going to affect Rin. He doesn’t want history repeating itself. Not that he doesn’t want to put up with it, but because Rin is one of his best friends, and he cares for him, despite him not exactly showing it. He’s not a very expressive person.

“...Whatever.” Rin shakes his head, turning back to his seat and opening up his diary again, hastily penning nonsensical things down again. Why are his friends being so weird about this? Is there something going on?

No matter what they say, he’s going to do this for his mother, his family, and keep them happy.

\---

“Looks like it’s just you and me, this morning.” Makoto smiles lightly when he appears in Haruka’s bedroom the next morning. The other boy himself was in the midst of playing a song on his guitar when he was rudely interrupted. Haruka scowls up at him, which is simply brushed off by Makoto’s smile again. It’s good to see him up bright and early, rehearsing for their performance. It’s good to know that he cares.

Haruka greets him a mildly grumpy “Good morning.” before standing, putting his guitar back into its case, and pushing past Makoto into the hallway, making his way downstairs.

“I wonder if Rin’s on his way to the interview… I kinda feel bad that we’re missing it.” Makoto starts their morning conversation, as the scent of grilled mackerel fills the air around them. Haruka stands at the grill, an apron tied loosely over him, patting the mackerel chunks down with his spatula, happily taking in the scent of his favourite food.

“He’s probably already there. They shouldn’t ask him too much.” Haruka replies, flipping the fish over simply. Makoto cocks his head to the side from the doorway. What was that meant to mean?

“They’re probably going to ask him things like how he’s doing nowadays.. Right? They won’t get too personal will they?” Makoto asks, starting to feel a little concerned. They probably  _ will  _ ask him personal questions.

“They’re going to ask him things he won’t want to answer.” Haruka speaks calmly, finally deciding to switch off the grill and place the mackerel pieces into his bento for lunch. They have a bit of time before they leave since Makoto walked straight to Haruka’s house from his own, instead of stopping halfway for Rin.

Makoto frowns at Haruka’s reply. 

“It’s obvious.” Haruka says, seeing the look on Makoto’s face. “His father died in May, and it’s May now. They’re going to ask about his father and make him uncomfortable.” He finishes, sounding a little annoyed. Of course, he’s silently concerned for his friend, he would be if it were Makoto, too. But he won’t express that publicly.

Makoto stays silent for a moment. He knows that this is probably going to affect Rin today, but he’s a strong person.

“Rin… He’s strong.” Makoto mumbles. Haruka’s glare into his bento box hardens. “He’ll pull through, but this is gonna hurt him.. Maybe we should see him afterwards, try and cheer him up or something.” Makoto suggests, looking up to Haruka, who seems to be sorting out his school bag. He turns to look up at Makoto and nods quietly.

Makoto hums happily at him, giving a small smile. 

_ Bzzt! _

Makoto jumps suddenly. His phone buzzes in his breast pocket, so close to him. He reaches inside his pocket and pulls out his phone, unlocking it and revealing the home screen.

_ [1 New Message from: Sousuke] _

He’s silent as he goes about opening the message, the smile doesn’t leave his face.

Haruka turns around slowly from hearing the buzz. He looks up and sees Makoto smiling down at his phone. _ Who is it? _

“Oh…” Makoto’s smile drops slightly. He types something back before looking up to Haruka, getting a small surprise when he sees him already looking back at him. “Looks like it’s just gonna be me and you today.”

“Who was that?” Haruka asks, not sounding suspicious, thankfully. He goes back to packing his bag and brushing himself off.

“Sousuke. He said-”

“You have his number?” Haruka asks suddenly, looking back to meet him again. Makoto looks a little taken aback this time. Haruka halts himself from raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah. Since he’s my vocal coach we figured it’d be good to keep in touch…” Makoto nods slowly, looking away for a second before realising that probably looked a little strange.

Haruka returns to full height. He nods back at Makoto before moving into the hallway, past Makoto again, going to retrieve his guitar from upstairs.

“Is he a good vocal coach?” Haruka asks idly. He doesn’t sound too interested, Makoto detects, but it’s conversation nonetheless. 

“He’s amazing.” Makoto begins. That probably sounded a little over exaggerated, seeing as Haruka has his back turned to Makoto from the top of the stairs, Makoto shakes his head and continues. “His voice is really great. I never expected him to have a good singing voice, but he did.” He chuckles lightly.

Haruka says nothing in reply. Instead, he grabs his guitar and makes his way back downstairs, retrieving his shoes and putting them on silently. Makoto inwardly gulps as he watches.

“Nice. How are your vocals coming along?” Haruka asks as he opens the door, holding it open for Makoto to follow him out. Makoto grabs his keyboard, that he absolutely made sure to take home yesterday, and steps outside, closing the door quietly behind him as he continues to speak.

“Pretty well. Sousuke hasn’t really said anything about my voice yet, but he’s still coaching me, so it mustn't be that bad, right?” Makoto smiles a little sheepishly. Haruka turns his head to look up at Makoto for a moment. 

“You should sing for us at practice today.” Haruka responds nonchalant. He watches Makoto’s eyes widen in small surprise before looking away slightly.

“Yeah…” He mumbles.

\---

Sousuke sits tucked into the corner of his L shaped couch, making sure Chouko doesn’t leave his side for the next thirty minutes. He’s decided to avoid school today to both listen to this interview, and potentially await if this interview is going to ruin him.

He sighs to himself as his sturdy fingers run through Chouko’s long black fur. She usually isn’t allowed on the couch, especially now that she’s ripping up another one of her toys, but today is an exception.

The adverts on the radio that plays besides him draw to an end, as the radio stations small jingle plays suddenly. Sousuke closes his eyes.

_ “Welcome back to Samezuka Station Radio!,” _ The host begins. His voice is happy and cheery.  _ “Many of you may probably be waiting for this, or maybe you didn’t even know, but you’re going to know now. We have our own young Samezuka star in the studio today, who kindly agreed to talk to us today, son of Toraichi, Matsuoka Rin!” _

There’s a small applaud in the studio, as the sounds of Rin laughing lightly as giving his small hellos and thank yous lay over them. He doesn’t seem to be nervous at all.

_ “So Rin, a very big thank you for coming down today, how did you find it getting here?” _ The host asks, beginning the interview right away.

_ “Ah, it wasn’t too hard, my father used to come here all the time so I pretty much knew where i was.” _ Rin replies, without a struggle. It sounds weird, hearing his voice on the radio.

_ “That’s right, you used to live down here in Samezuka, right? What brought your family to move down to Iwatobi?” _ The conversation continues. Nothing too serious just yet, thankfully. But it’s not an alright time to say that, as it has literally just began,

_ “Well, I moved away to Australia for a few years, and when I came home, that’s where my mother and sister were. They said it was… Something about just wanting a fresh start, but we didn’t want to leave Iwatobi completely.”  _ Rin replies, sounding a little hesitant this time. He adds a small laugh. Sousuke’s eyebrows knit together for a moment, his hand still combing through the fur.

_ “Yes, we heard from your mother that you were away in Australia, something about a professional musician?” _ They ask, sounding a little teasing. They get their answer as Rin lets out a playful groan.

_ “Gosh, she told you about that?” _ Rin groans again, followed by a slapping noise, which Sousuke can only assume is him putting his hands over his face in embarrassment.

_ “Of course! All mothers gush over their children don’t they?” _

_ “I literally hate her right now…”  _

There’s a small chorus of laughter before the host decides to move onto the next topic. Sousuke inwardly prays it isn’t what he thinks it is.

_ “So then, Rin, how are you handling life at the moment?” _ The hosts asks. Sousuke raises an eyebrow at the radio. That’s a rather blunt question..

_ “Ah, life’s pretty good at the moment. My family are doing very well, knowing that my father’s anniversary is soon, and I think I’m safe to say this is the happiest we’ve been. Because y’know, he gave us so much and we’re eternally grateful for everything he did.” _ Rin replies, a little bit of a longer reply than what Sousuke was thinking he was going to give them.

_ “That’s excellent to hear, Rin. It’s so good that even though he may not be with us, he continues to put a smile on both yours and our faces, with his spirit, and his great music. Because that’s what he left for the world.” _

_ “Yes.” _ Rin replies, seemingly happy.  _ “It makes me happy to know that he at least achieved a smaller version of his dream, but he got to live it through before… You know.”  _

_ “Yes, yes, and we won’t pressure you today with anything, we promise. Because now, you’ve left us with a happy imprint.” _ They chuckle softly, as does Rin.  _ “And we can’t go from one emotion to another so suddenly.” _

_ “Yeah,” _ Rin laughs again.  _ “Obviously, we’re still going to mourn, but we’ll heal over time, and we’ll each live our own lives to the fullest, and it’s good to talk about it sometimes because it’s like I’m still acknowledging what he wanted to do, and I think that his spirit is driving me to achieve my best, and do all that I can both for him, and for my own future..” _

Wow. Rin doesn’t seem to be nervous at all today. Sousuke’s honestly never heard Rin speak such sentimental words in a long time. It must feel good for him to let them all out. Sousuke’s expression softens as a small smile approaches his face.

_ “Of course, of course, and we all understand that here, because he brought something to this city, so we should all pay our respects.” _ The host replies calmly, slowly. “Now Rin, there’s something we’ve all been wanting to know here.”

Sousuke lifts his head.

_ “Hm? Go ahead.” _ Rin speaks.

_ “So, from what we’ve all heard, is it true that you actually attend a public school?” _

Sousuke’s eyes shrink suddenly. He glares into the radio.  _ Oh God, he’s done for. _

_ “Ahah, yes!” _ Rin says. Why did he have to sound so happy about that. Sousuke then glares into his lap. Please let this be it, shut up and move on.  _ “Both myself and my sister do. It’s a little mad to hear that, I guess.” _

_ “Very! We all expected somebody like you to attend one of those high maintenance private schools, away from the public eye.” _ The host says, seeming rather interested.

Stop. Shut up and move on.  _ Shut up and move on. _

_ “Yeah, quite a lot of people have suspected that, and I get the same reaction every time.” _   
  
_ “Of course you do, that’s totally unexpected. Do you mind us asking why?”  _ The host asks, unknowingly pushing Sousuke’s patience to the verge.

He removes his hand from his dog to avoid pulling out the soft fur. _ Yes. _ Tell them you do mind, tell them you’d rather talk about something else.

_ “Not at all, I mean, it’s pretty simple.” _ Rin’s totally calm and happy voice begins to echo through Sousuke’s head. So much that…  _ “I mean, I was given the option to attend a school just down the road from here, but-” _

It’s silent. Sousuke lifts his hand from the power button, and lets it drop into his lap. He sits in silence, and prays that they’ve stopped. Prays that the interview is coming to an end, so that the anxiety in his stomach will stop swirling around and disintegrate, but that won’t happen.

He prays  _ he _ wasn’t listening.

In order to distract himself, Sousuke gets up from the couch, causing Chouko to pause in her destruction of Mr Fluffles, her beloved new toy, and look up at Sousuke in curiosity. She watches as he walks over into the kitchen, suddenly getting to her feet, hopping off of the couch and follows Sousuke.

Sousuke himself hears the tiny pitter-patter behind him and turns to greet his pets happy little face. It doesn’t transfer any feeling over towards him, as he’s far too busy worrying over his own matters right now. He should probably give her a treat, or something.

As he turns to get the small treat bag from out of the cupboard, a strange noise comes from his living room. He lifts his head up, looks out, before realising that it was probably Chouko making some little excited noise from seeing the treat bag. He kneels down, taking a couple treats out, and leaving them on the floor, much to Chouko’s happiness. 

But the noise is still there. 

Sousuke stands up, walking out into the living area with a confused look striking his face, looking around before seeing it. His phone. It vibrates, violently, against the back arm of his couch. Someone’s calling him.

Shit.

He walks over slowly, taking his time to ponder about who it could be. It might be Rin, calling him on his way back from the interview, wanting to talk to him about how thrilling it was, how good it was or even how bad it was. Or maybe it’s the school wanting to ask where he is. Probably that, but he doesn’t want that. He wants it to be someone calming, someone that’s gonna make him feel better and take his mind of things.

_ Please let it be Makoto. _

Sousuke doesn’t even get time to rethink his last thought and chew himself out on it, because he’s stepped close enough to figure out those dark letters on his illuminated screen.

_ [Incoming Call… Dad] _

_ Shit. _

Sousuke swallows loudly before lunging for his phone before he mistakenly allows it to ring out. He sits back on the couch, pressing the answer button unwillingly. This is it. He’s fucked.

“...”

“Sousuke, why do you think I’m calling?” His father’s deep voice reaches his ear, cold.

“I don’t know.” Sousuke replies, staying calm for now. Maybe he’s just called for a little catch up or something… Though he knows that’s not true. His father hasn’t even said hello properly yet.

“Don’t play that card Sousuke. You  _ know _ why I’m calling. In fact,  _ he _ probably told you all about it, didn’t he?” He spits. Sousuke can already detect threat in his voice. “How he was going to his little interview, wasn’t he?” His father is definitely angry. “Answer me.”

“Yes.” Sousuke replies, lowering his head and closing his eyes for a moment.

“Are you going to explain? Why you  _ lied  _ to me?” His father continues, demanding an answer from his son.

“I didn’t lie to you.” Sousuke begins. “I-”

“I told you not to play that card Sousuke. Don’t you ever listen to me?” Sousuke swallows thickly. “You don’t even have to answer that one, because I just had the entire answer played out to me. You told me he went to a private school.”

“I know.” Sousuke keeps his head down, bracing himself for the incoming storm. 

“Oh? You knew? So then why did I just hear on the radio that he doesn’t? Why did I hear that he actually attends Iwatobi High? Which, if you didn’t know, is a public school?” His father hisses, sarcastically.

“I didn’t know he went there. I just assumed he went to a private school because of his status.” Sousuke replies, more or less a grumble under his breath.

“Of course you did. Why did you chose that school, Sousuke?” His father continues to drag an answer out of him. Sousuke purses his lips together for a moment, keeping his temper down.

“Maybe because it’s the local school?” Sousuke tilts his head stupidly with a small glare,  looking out at Chouko in the kitchen, who laps at her water.

“And what about this music club he talked of? Am I to assume that you’re a part of that, too?” His voice grows angrier with every word. Sousuke is close to putting the phone down. He’s going to snap. “You’d better not be Sousuke, or else-”

“No, I’m not.” Sousuke growls.

“And if I were to call your school right now and ask, they’d say that?” His father pushes. Sousuke is surprised he hasn’t said anything about the noise of his teeth grinding together down the receiver.

“Yes.”

“Oh, and if I called your school and ask if you were currently there, they’d tell me yes, too? How come you aren’t even at school Sousuke? Are you palling around, waiting for him?”

“No. I’m sick.” Sousuke argues back. He completely forgot about that. Fuck. 

“You sound well to me. Where are you Sousuke? You’d better at least be in that apartment, and nowhere near him.” 

“I’m in the apartment!” Sousuke’s voice slowly begins to get louder, as he lifts his head. Luckily for him, Chouko announces she is finished eating by barking. “See? There’s the dog.”   


“Of course. That mutt never stays quiet. Matsuoka isn’t on his way over or nothing, is he?” HIs father asks again. 

“Jesus, no! I’m not well, dad. I’m staying at home and nobody is coming over here!” Sousuke shouts, but not too loud.

“...You would have fitted in nicely at the academy down the road, but no, you chose your friends over your future.” His father laughs, but it’s obviously out of disbelief.

“I didn’t” Sousuke replies, simply, sternly.

“I thought I told you to stay away from that Matsuoka kid. I didn’t raise a failure. I raised a Yamazaki. A businessman.” His father continues, slowly pushing his son over the edge.

“What makes you think I’m a failure?!” Sousuke struggles to keep his voice down as he burns holes into the wall facing him.

“Don’t raise your voice at me. That Matsuoka is good for nothing. I understand that you were good friends as children, but you have to understand that people like him change over time-”

“You’re not making any _sense_ -”

“Matsuoka has everything handed to him on a golden plate, Sousuke. Fame and fortune, he doesn’t have to worry about a thing. That’s the way they’ve always been, him and his family. His grades have always been good, whilst you slack behind because of him.” His father starts. Sousuke grips the edge of his couch with force. “You know why that is? Because he could probably buy tutors, and pay enough to keep them as their pets, and have them do all their work. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were hiring someone to do all of their tests for them. He doesn’t know what hard work is. Are you listening to me, Sousuke?”  
  
_ “Why do you all of a sudden give a shit about me?!”  _ Sousuke shrieks.

“Excuse me?” His father asks, sounding completely offended.

“”What? Are you fucking deaf? I said-”

“Don’t you  _ dare _ speak to me like that, young man. That’s not how a businessman would talk, especially to his father.” 

Sousuke shakes his head.

“It’s always about the business, work, the money, why can’t you just take time to realise that maybe I don’t want to inherit your business?” Sousuke slams him, sitting back onto the couch and putting his head down again.

“...Don’t you ever say that. This is a Yamazaki business. Who else do I hand it down to once I’m gone? You’re my only child, Sousuke, and don’t you dare claim that I don’t care about you.” His father says, calmly.

“Well I’m not gonna sit here and listen to you whilst you talk shit about my best friend.” Sousuke argues back, lifting his head again and watching as Chouko picks up her stuffed toy again, carrying it off somewhere else, letting Sousuke have the room to himself.

“...You’re obsessed with him.” His father sighs out, and he can practically hear him shaking his head. Sousuke growls out again, but before he can say anything, his father beats him to it. “You’re not…”He begins in a condescending tone.

Sousuke tenses, as he realises what his father is about to ask him.

“You’re not  _ gay _ are you Sousuke?”

“No!” Sousuke yells, before realising he shouldn’t have probably shouted that, it sounded a little defensive.

“...Good. You’d better not be lying to me. I couldn’t imagine the state of the business if you were.” His father sounds calm and collected again. 

Sousuke feels a pang to his chest.

Why did he feel that? It’s not like he _ is  _ gay... It just, it hurts to know that his father thinks that way. It’s disgusting that he thinks that way. There’s nothing wrong with being gay. The business has nothing to do with sexuality.

“Are you there, Sousuke?” 

“Yes, I’m just, headache. Not feeling too good.” Sousuke quickly states, this time defensively.

“I’m not buying it. You better not leave that apartment, Sousuke, I mean it.” He starts again. Sousuke almost crushes the phone in his hand. “And you’d better not be lying to me, I mean it, because-”

“I’m not! Get that through your head!” Sousuke shouts again, before mentally telling himself to calm down. He’s gonna get complaints from his neighbours if he keeps shouting.

“I told you to stop speaking to me like that. What happened to you, Sousuke? No, I’ll tell you. This is that Matsuoka, corrupting you to be-”

“Oh,  _ fuck off!”  _ Sousuke yells one last time, slamming his phone closed, ending the call and tossing it away. He can't blame anybody for this, he had it coming.

He takes a few deep breaths, calming down, replaying what just happened in his head. Now he really does feel sick. His father may pay for his apartment, but he never really calls, unless it’s something that he wants, or something for Sousuke to take up. 

That’s why he left.

He did kind of speak disrespectfully to his father, but it was getting way out of hand, and he was just pushing, and pushing and _ pushing  _ him further and further off of the edge. He had to say something. Sousuke himself knows that he’s not the kindest of people, and he doesn’t want to dare admit he’s gotten that from his father. 

His phone vibrates besides him again.

Sousuke glares at it as he flips his screen up with such force force, that it almost snaps and flies off. But his expression softens suddenly when he sees another text underneath his father’s, which just came through. He must have received the other one whilst he was on the phone.

_ [Dad: I’m extremely disappointed in you. Be well, Sousuke.] _

_ [Makoto: Sorry to hear that. I hope you’re feeling well, tomorrow, Sousuke! By the way, we’re going shopping tomorrow for Rei’s bass. Do you want to come with us? :) x] _

_ [Makoto: Ignore the x. Accident! Sorry!] _

Sousuke gives a short puff of laughter through his nose as he reads through Makoto’s messages.  _ Of course it was an accident... _

He completely ignores his father’s message, and opens Makoto’s text properly, texting him back.

_ [texting in class? naughty.]  _

He closes his phone and lies back on the couch, weirdly feeling himself becoming slightly calm. He closes his eyes, breathing slow.

What is he going to do?

\---

“Rin? Are you home yet sweetie?” His mother calls out as soon as the door closes behind her. No noise follows. He must be still out…”Gou honey?”

“He’s asleep upstairs, mom. I think he wants to be alone.” Gou replies, keeping her lower lip pierced between her teeth. She went up to see him before, but it was no use.

“Ahh, well, I got you both something to eat, it’s just a pre-made sandwich, I know it’s far past lunch now, but I thought that maybe you were both hungry. I’ll take Rin’s up to him now. Poor man must be exhausted, huh..” Their mother’s voice is calm, evidently tired herself. Gou nods slowly, taking the sandwich from her mother with a quiet thank you.

Their mother slowly makes her way down the hall, holding Rin’s sandwich close as she nears his room, trying to prevent the packaging from rustling. She reaches Rin’s room, but before she can open the door, she detects a strange rustling noise herself. She pushes the door open slowly, eyes widening, and almost dropping the sandwich she has a hold of.

“Oh, Rin…” She whispers sorrowfully, pushing the door open wider so that she can go inside and take a hold of her son, as he clutches desperately to his pillow, sobbing and shivering.  “I listened to you at work. I was so proud of you…” She speaks softly, rubbing his back up and down as she takes a seat on the bed besides him.

“Horrible…” Rin lifts his head up from the pillow, lower lip quivering. His mother looks over at him concernedly. “I just… felt like they were pushing me,” He pauses to gasp again. “Pushing me to answer things I, I didn’t want to, but it made you happy and-”

“Rin, it’s over now, I’ll make sure they don’t ask you again.” His mother nods, speaking slow so that he can feel calm himself. “...I got you a sandwich.”

Rin takes the sandwich with a small nod, placing it down besides him, tears still quietly running down his face.

“A-and Gou… I don’t want her doing that, either.” Rin adds, nodding quickly. “It’s just… At every given moment they remind me that he’s not here, and that- that he was this big star, when he was just my dad- and-”

“I’m sorry you had to do that, and you don’t know how awful I feel because of it… I promise you it won’t happen again.” Mrs Matsuoka nods, rubbing his back up and down one last time. “Take a deep breath and don’t think about it. That’s how I did it. I know it’s hard, and even I’m holding back my emotions now. But, we learn to let go, like you said.” She says with a smile.

“Yeah… Thanks, mom.” Rin nods, calming down a little.

“Get some rest, honey. It’s good for you.” She says, standing up from the bed and looking back at him with a small smile again. He doesn’t smile back at her, and she doesn't expect him too. He cant right now. He lays back down, shoving the pillow over his face again.

“I’ll leave you to get some rest. If you need anything, your sister and I are downstairs. Love you.” She says softly, before leaving him to get some well needed rest.

“Love you.” Rin mumbles, muffled by his pillow.

Tired isn’t even the word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im still laughing at the description for this chapter lmao
> 
> also do y'all remember back in the day when u had flip phones and u could just flip em closed hung up and look so fucking cool damn me too i miss those days
> 
> i hope you all enjoyed that chapter !! and dont hate me too much for all the angst haha *fuckifn runs*
> 
> \---
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions regarding this fic and its updates! I love hearing your feedback!
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	27. Life's Discounts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, it's time for Rei to get a hold of his instrument
> 
> also time for me to sleep 3am kms bye y'all
> 
> also time for me to start thinking of better chapter names ffs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY SO
> 
> I was gonna update last night, pretty much all I had to do was the last two paragraphs and then edit. But somebody decided to fuck me over and attack my house again. I've been real busy all day today sorting things out with police and housing officers, so I've only just managed to get around to posting this now. 
> 
> And I also feel like the last chapter really upset some people so I kinda hate it now. Idk. I apologise for that.
> 
> ALSO fucking hell karu I WANT TO MAKE CLEAR that this fic is SOUMAKO ONLY. Thank you for helping me to point that out! There won't be any side parings, just pure and wholesome and karu taking the absolute piss to get to SouMakos <3
> 
> enjoy this chapter, please!

The following morning, the early train is completely empty; save for the five boys that sit huddled at the front, all conversing over the plan for today; getting Rei’s bass.

“Have you looked at any basses online, Rei?” Rin asks, sat by himself in the front row, back turned and leaning over the seat behind.

“I haven't to be fair,” Rei begins, pausing for a moment before carrying on. “But, I have been doing my research, and no doubt today I will find the most perfect bass!” He announces proudly, placing a hand on his hip, and raising the other in the air.

“You sure sound excited.” Makoto joins in, looking up from his phone and giving a small smile to Rei before looking to Haruka who sits silently besides him, an earphone in his right ear, closest to the window.

Haruka looks idly out of the window, watching the shoreline fade out of view, being replaced by green grounds, and shopping district cobble villages. He zones in and out of the conversation, half listening to Rei blabbering on, and half listening to the cool beat that fills his ear.

“You have to make sure you chose the right one.” Rin nods. “Maybe some books could help, too.” He suggests. Rei sits up in his seat.

“Of course! I've already been doing plenty of research about them, their sound and technique.” Rei speaks proudly. Though, the smile he wears on his face is short to disappear once Haruka turns his head.

“It isn't just about research. Sometimes the books won't tell you how you want to play. They instruct you.” He says, louder than usual. “Be free.” He nods.

“Some people have different ways of learning, maybe Rei prefers to learn through books.” Rin argues with Haruka, turning slightly to look at him seriously. Haruka lifts his head and stares back, sternly.

“Books are no good. They're stupid.” Haruka puts it simply.

“Yeah, that might be the case for you, but we have to consider others here. If Rei prefers to do it by the book, then that's what he's comfortable with, and he's going to learn faster that-”

“I'm just saying.” Haruka shrugs. Rin's glare hardens.

“Yeah, saying that-”

“Hey, you two! Stop it.” Makoto speaks above them, scolding them both. He turns to Haruka first. “Haru, Rin does have a point here. You all have specific ways of learning how to play instruments here, and I understand that you're looking out for Rei here, but he has his own way of learning, right?” Makoto turns around to Rei, smiling politely at him. Rei himself looks a little surprised at the other two bickering.

“Right…” He mumbles. “Thank you, Makoto-senpai.”

“Haru-chan and Rin-chan fight like this all the time..” Nagisa groans, resting his head on the seat behind Haruka’s head.

“But you've only been a member for a couple weeks..” Rei looks over at Nagisa, a little concerningly. Surely they must be little play fights, right?

Haruka goes to look away from the conversation, and back out of the window. But something else catches his eye as he turns.

Makoto fiddles about with his phone in his lap, smiling to himself every now and then. Haruka looks at him, a little annoyed. Who is he texting right now?

The older boy looks at the messages written on his screen for a little longer. He doesn’t even think about anybody around him reading them.

_[Feeling better today, Sousuke?]_

_[Sousuke: yeah. much. i’ll see you guys at the shopping district. entrance right?]_

_[Yup! Is Chouko with your neighbour?]_

_[Sousuke: yes, mom.]_

_[Hey! Don’t call me that!]_

_[Sousuke: see you there x]_

_[Sousuke: sorry ‘accident’ lol]_

“There's a little library on the other side of the shopping district, maybe they'd have some books in there?” Rei suggests, looking through the gap of Haruka and Makoto at Rin.

“Nah, they'll have ‘em in the music store.” Rin nods confidently.

“In the music store?” Rei replies, slightly more confused than usual. “But… I thought the store was just for instruments and accessories of the sort..”

“Haven't you ever been to the music store before Rei-chan?” Nagisa says, looking over to Rei and pouting up at him. Rei shakes his head in reply.

“I have not.” He confirms, changing Nagisa’s look from curious to straight out unamused.

“Boooo, Rei-chan.” Nagisa huffs, slumping dramatically in his seat. Rei scowls softly down at him, but doesn’t say anything to him.

“Hey, he’s just starting out.” Rin barks at Nagisa, before a soft look overcomes his face. “But still, you’ve never even just wandered into their when you’re at the shopping district?” Rin tilts his head, looking over at Rei a little sadly.

“I’ve never really had any interest… Since I usually rented and bought my composing books from the library, and I never played an instrument.” Rei replies, looking away, feeling slightly bad now.

“Don’t fret over it, Rei. I can say I haven’t really been there much myself.” Makoto lifts his head up and turns his head a little to the side to address him. Rei lifts his head too, looking back at Makoto with a small surprised look.

“You’re gonna love it, Rei-chan! It’s so big inside and there’s just everything music-y you can think of surrounding you!” Nagisa suddenly cheers, leaning on Rei’s shoulder. Rei blinks suddenly and looks back at Nagisa in surprise. “All sorts of basses, and keyboards and big shiny guitars just surrounding you!”

Makoto hides his chuckle at seeing the little sparkle in Haruka’s eyes.

“Oh, I should probably text Sousuke.” Rin remembers, nodding to himself before taking his phone out of his pocket. “He’s meeting us there, right?”

Makoto turns his head back to Rin at the mention of Sousuke’s name. He was literally just texting him this a second ago. Haruka watches oddly as Makoto pockets his phone, before turning back to look out of the window. Oh. They’re reaching the city now. The train confirms his thoughts as the three little chimes play.

“ _Now Calling at platform 3, Iwatobi Town Centre… In the interests of safety, please remain seated until the train stops. Please do not leave any luggage unattended.”_

As the announcement plays out, the five go about preparing to leave the train. Haruka takes out his earphone and wraps the cord around his MP3 player, putting it in his pocket. Rin makes sure to text Sousuke their location, knowing that his geographically challenged self is going to end up getting lost. He then goes about pocketing his phone, and then pulling up his bag on the seat next to him.

The others watch as Rin takes out a coal black floppy sun hat, and a pair of black sunglasses, completely opaque. Both of them are designer. He places the hat securely on his head, looking out of the window quickly before applying his sunglasses and fixing his hair. He flattens out his cardigan and checks his reflection in the window again. He doesn’t look that unrecognisable to his friends, but to the public, this usually works.

Being the secret fashion-freak he is, Rin has to compliment his own look today. He wears his long brown cardigan, black and white striped shirt, his skinny black jeans and his black ankle boots. Obviously, his hat and sunglasses match the look. Though, his entire look is a bit costly. He still attracts attention this way, but only because of that. His outfit today stands out from his friend’s casual outfits. Maybe he should have considered that...

“Rin-senpai, it’s not _that_ hot outside…” Rei comments theoretically, completely missing the reason why Rin is going about this.

“I know, but I have to do this.” Rin says, quiet as the train begins to stop, making that horrid screeching sound. Haruka winces at that.

“Rin-chan has to disguise himself from the public-eye… He’s a super celebrity!” Nagisa hisses at Rei seriously, though the rest of them manage to hear him.

“I’m not a celebrity, Nagisa…” Rin comments, quiet again, but Nagisa doesn’t hear any of it.

“Oh, oh! Do we need to call you something else?” Nagisa lunges over Haruka and Makoto’s seat, looking Rin in the eye, despite not being able to see them through the sunglasses.

“No!” Rin barks back at him.

“Hmm… What about… Kin! Kin-chan!” Nagisa nods excitedly. He seems to like the idea of his friend being of a higher status. The other passengers on the train are quiet, seemingly interested in the small group.

“I said-”

“Rin-senpai doesn’t really look like a Kin type.” Rei joins in, holding his chin in his thought, studying Rin’s face for a moment longer. “I’d say he’s more of a.. Tadashi?”

“I wouldn’t say he suits that either…” Makoto looks back to Rei. Rin’s glower hardens, as his patience shortens.

“What would you say then, Mako-chan?” Nagisa asks, still slumped over Haruka’s shoulder, who quietly tries to push him off.

“Hmm..” Makoto hums, placing a finger to his lips in thought as he tilts his head at Rin.  
  
“How about Tamotsu?” Nagisa suggests again, getting closer to Makoto, who hums louder in consideration. “Hitoshi?”

“No.” Makoto shakes his head, as does Rei from behind them. Makoto looks back at Rin again for a moment before shrugging. “I dunno. He just looks like a Rin to me.”

“Thank you, Makoto.” Rin cuts in, sounding a little pissed off. “At least-”

“He needs a girl’s name.” Haruka says, standing up from his seat and successfully pushing Nagisa off. “Yui.”

“Yui-chan!” Nagisa sings, getting up and following Haruka.

“Hey! Don’t start calling me that!” Rin yells at them, walking ahead as they leave the train. Makoto laughs lightly to himself as the other three follow behind in tow.

“You’re being too slow. Hurry up, Yui.” Haruka calls out blankly from behind. Both Nagisa and Makoto laugh to themselves as Rin growls loudly.

\---

Sousuke stands alone outside the shopping district, completely baffled.

He’s only been here once or twice, and he swears to himself that this place gets bigger every time he visits. He looks up at the entrance, well, he _thinks_ it’s the entrance, but he can’t see any triangle-roofed buildings, where Rin told him to meet them. Sousuke even stands back and looks at the concept of the building as a whole, and it’s definitely not triangle shaped.

Maybe Rin meant inside the shopping district. He nods to himself before walking inside. It’s still fairly early so it isn’t as packed as it was the last time he came. All the stores seem to be flat. But there are small hut-like stalls in the middle of the aisles. They’re triangle, right? Maybe he meant those…

He walks a little further inside, finally starting to recognize a few stores a little, like a couple clothing stores and a small restaurant… Is he in the food court now?  
  
“Excuse me, Sir.” A cheery voice appears at his side, surprising him a little. Sousuke’s eyes widen in surprise for a moment before turning to the lady that looks up happily at him. “Would you be interested in trying some of our energy bars today?”

“Uh… No thank you.” Sousuke replies, holding a hand up at her and walking away. That was odd. He’s never had anyone come up to him like that before.

“Excuse me!” A man calls out this time. Sousuke frowns. He’s about to just walk straight past them until the man himself holds out a can of cola. Sousuke’s expression softens the second he sees it. “Would you be interested in trying some of our new cola today? It’s a new recipe, zero added sugar and less calories!”

Sousuke nods, maybe a little too excitedly as he takes the cola can from the smaller man with a small thank you.

Well, at least he got a cola out of it. These free things are kinda cool, but now he kinda feels bad for not taking the energy bar… Maybe he should go back and-

“Excuse me sir!” Another voice calls out. This time when he looks up, a small, slim girl holds out a leaflet to him, but around her, he doesn’t have a clue where he is anymore. He’s been walking far too long. He takes the leaflet, and the little badge from her, without a clue of what they’re for, and turns around, totally lost.

\---

“Damnit, where _is_ he?” Rin taps his foot impatiently against the pavement. He along with the others have been waiting at the shopping district’s entrance for at least ten minutes now. “He’s usually never like this… He better had not gotten lost again.” Rin grumbles under his breath.

“Have you tried calling him?” Makoto suggests. Rin nods with a small hum to confirm, and picks up his phone again.

“I’ll try again…” He mutters, pulling up Sousuke on his smartphone, and tapping the screen to call him. He holds the phone to his ear, waiting patiently. It rings a couple times before he answers.

 _“Rin, I’m almost there.”_ Sousuke says immediately, sounding a little rushed.

“Sousuke? Where are you? We’ve-”

 _“Can’t talk. Hands are full. Almost there.”_ Sousuke cuts him off, and cuts the phone call off, too.

“He’s almost here.” Rin groans, pocketing his phone grumpily and crossing his arms over his chest, leaning back against the pole behind him. He lowers his head so that his hat covers his face.

“Where is he?” Haruka asks, standing up from the bench as well as Makoto.

“I dunno exactly where, but he’s almost-”

“You ate without us Sou-chan?” Nagisa cries, turning all heads in direction of his voice, as the small boy stands and marches up to Sousuke, who arms are indeed, full.

Sousuke himself looks a little dazed, troubled even, as he struggles to hold up his cola can, yoghurt tub, badge and leaflet, two pretzels, some sort of lip balm and the energy bar.

“You were shopping this entire time?” Rin joins in, sounding a little offended, Sousuke can tell he’s pissed through the shades.

“No, I was just walking through, and all of a sudden these people just kept coming up to me, handing me all this free shit. I dunno if they thought I was some sort of celebrity or something...” Sousuke replies, trying to gesture to the ‘free shit’ that he holds, but struggles, almost dropping his badge. He’s about to make another point, but Makoto’s soft giggles cut him off, distracting him entirely.

“Free samples, Sousuke. We always have them at the shopping district.” Makoto says, putting a dumbfounded look on Sousuke’s face. Rin laughs to himself as he blinks slow for a moment, watching as Sousuke almost drops the badge again.

“Fuck off, fashion week. Some of us don’t go to the shopping district everyday.” Sousuke directly looks over to Rin, glaring at him as he hikes up his elbow, keeping a tight hold of his cola.

“Lemme have the pretzel and I’ll let you go.” Rin shrugs, holding out his hand. Sousuke rolls his eyes and steps closer towards Rin so that he can pick out the pastry himself, seeing as he can’t. Rin picks it out with precision and bites into it immediately.

“No fair! I want something, too!” Nagisa whines again. He steps closer to Sousuke and holds onto his arm, scaring him a little and almost making him drop everything again.

“Alright, but not the cola. That’s mine. You can have the yoghurt.” Sousuke replies, keeping a distinctive hold on his beverage.

“Yaaay! What do you want, Rei-chan?” Nagisa cheers, taking the yoghurt for himself and then looking back to Rei, who looks a little annoyed.

“I don’t want anything. I don’t think you should be giving away Yamazaki-senpai’s things without permission..” Rei says, looking down at Nagisa scoldingly before Sousuke himself opens his mouth.

“It’s fine… I don’t really want this stuff anyway.” He mumbles, looking away from the group. They all look to him a little surprised, especially Rin. He didn’t think he’d actually let him...

“Then it’s settled! Here! Rei-chan, you can have the energy bar, Haru-chan can have the other pretzel, and Mako-chan can have this lip thing! Who wants the badge?” Nagisa calls out, handing each of them their respective items.

“We’ll probably get them again when we go back inside…” Haruka adds, taking the pretzel, folding the packaging and keeping a hold of it.

“Hm? Did you want the badge, Haru-chan?” Nagisa turns around, taking the badge from Sousuke, who looks completely dumbfounded again, and turns to give it to Haruka. Haruka holds a hand up, refusing the badge. Nagisa nods, handing it back to Sousuke.

“What time does the music store close?” Rei asks smartly, turning all heads towards him. The others suddenly shoot up in realisation that that’s actually why they’ve came here today.

“We should probably make our way over.” Rin nods, standing up from the pole. “Not that it’s closing any time soon.” He adds, leading the way towards the shopping centre. Sousuke walks besides him, trying not to think of the phone call from yesterday.

His father wouldn’t come out to this shopping district anyway…

“You can help him pick one out… Right?” Rin mutters to Sousuke, knowing that he can actually play the instrument himself.

“I guess.” Sousuke shrugs back at him subtly. He hasn’t really spoke to Rei much, but if this is all for Rin’s sake, then… He thinks about the phone call again, looking at his reflection in Rin’s sunglasses.

“In fact, you could even teach him a thing or two, right?” Rin says, voice pitching a little higher in hope. His eyebrow raises when Sousuke doesn’t say anything in reply, his head is held high as he looks up at the building in front of him instead. Though, Sousuke wouldn’t be able to detect his expression through his disguise anyway.

“I’m going to buy some new strings..” Haruka comments, attracting Makoto’s attention, he pouts at him slightly.

“Haru, you bought strings last time we went there… What's wrong with the ones you have now?” Makoto groans at Haruka, letting his shoulders slump back a little.

“They're old. I need new ones.” Haruka replies simply. Makoto shakes his head at him lightly.

“Hmm, but you buy new ones almost every week!” Makoto cries, taking a moment to consider Haruka’s little addiction on a more serious level. “Thats…” He pauses, eyes widening and looking back at Haruka, who doesn’t seem phased at all. “That’s _twenty-four thousand_ yen a year!”

“It’s worth it.” Haruka replies, completely ignoring Makoto’s groans and pleads again.

“You should restring your instrument at least once a month, so I’ve read.” Rei adds from behind them, deciding to throw in some of the things he’s learnt, proudly.

Makoto pauses in his groaning, allowing Rei, and now Nagisa, to take over the conversation, as he looks up in front of him at Rin and Sousuke, who look a little tense. Did he miss something? He can't really see or tell what Rin is thinking, as his subtle disguise is actually doing a good job of hiding his identity, but he's quiet. Sousuke on the other hand still looks ahead of them, eyebrows slightly furrowed. His jaw is tight and sturdy. He looks agitated. But… _is it wrong he still looks good like that?_

"Makoto." Haruka's monotone voice pulls him back to the present conversation at hand.  
  
"Oh, sorry." Makoto smiles back at him. He _really_ has to stop doing that.

\---

Soon enough, they’re back inside the shopping district, idly walking through towards the music store. Luckily, it’s still significantly empty. Most of the stores are open now, and more people should be coming in soon.

Rin keeps his head low, despite the fact that there really isn’t that many people.

The music store isn’t hard to miss. It’s one of the largest stores on the bottom floor, it stands out pretty clearly. The large glass windows reveal a large array of instruments, rows and rows of all kinds of guitars, basses, keyboards, all of a different brand and colour.

Makoto chuckles to himself when he notices Haruka walking slightly faster.

“It certainly is a lot bigger than I expected…” Rei mumbles beneath his breath within entering the store. The first thing that catches his eye is the giant set of drumsticks that adorn the entrance doors. They certainly could have used something else…

“It’s exciting right, Rei-chan?” Nagisa chirps, looking up at Rei happily as he takes a moment to look around. He wanders towards the centre of the store first, where all of the amplifiers are. He nods slowly at Nagisa, despite not exactly looking at him.

“I see… These are what we’re going to need plenty of for our first show.” Rei nods again, looking directly at them.

“We have plenty at our school.” Makoto pipes up from behind them. “I think we should be able to use them. We went over that, right?”

“Right! So then, to the basses!” He exclaims happily, looking up ahead with gleaming eyes. Nagisa cheers in tow, by his side.

“Right!” Makoto smiles. “They’re over on the left side, over by where- _Haru!_ ”

Makoto’s directions are cut off by Haruka, who appears to be grumpily removing the strings from one of the guitars that were propped up by the test amplifiers. Rei and Nagisa watch curiously as Makoto makes his way over with a small whine.

“Haru, you can’t do that!” Makoto cries, looking down at him in worry. Haruka looks back up to him sharply, already half way through taking off the strings.

“They’re here for the public to play.” Haruka grumbles back. He talks about the small group of guitars that are lined up on a stand besides an amplifier, all of them facing the same way. “None of them are left-handed.”

“Still, you should ask the staff at least, don’t you think?” Makoto continues, trying to get some sort of sense through to Haruka, who refuses to listen.

“It’s better to let them see, then they’ll do something about it…” He mutters again, still focusing on the task at hand rather than Makoto. But before Makoto can actually go and do something about it, he turns towards the voice of somebody he doesn’t recognize.

A man, roughly the same size as him, blond-ish hair and grey eyes stands in front of him, wearing a small smile on his face. He also wears a nametag, revealing that he must be a member of staff here.

“It’s not a problem with us at all sir.” The man speaks, waving Makoto and Haruka off. “We get this all the time, I’ll let my manager know about it. Maybe then we could have some left handed guitars out for our customers to play.”

“Ah, thank you! I’m still sorry about him, though.” Makoto laughs softly, tilting his head and giving the staff member a smile, ignoring Haruka’s small glare.

“Not to worry. It’s actually better this way, it’s one less problem for us, right?” He replies, mirroring Makoto’s expression. Makoto opens his mouth to say something else, but he doesn’t get a chance too.

“Makoto.” Sousuke calls from the other side of the store. Rin has moved away from looking at the accessories with him to help Rei instead, leaving Sousuke alone. “Over here.”

Makoto turns to give the staff member one last small thank you, but he’s gone. All that’s in front of him is Haruka quietly restringing the guitar he holds.

“Go on.” Haruka mumbles, not looking up again. Makoto jumps slightly before nodding quickly and making his way over.

“What’s up?” Makoto asks him as soon as he nears him. He stops still by his side, stood in front of a bookshelf.

“...Hey.” Sousuke greets him quietly. Makoto looks back at him a little surprised. He wasn’t expecting him to just suddenly greet him like that. He smiles happily.

“Hi.” Makoto says softly. Sousuke’s eyes widen for a split second. He turns his face and focuses on the books in front of them. They’re all tutorials on how to play the instruments they have in the store, of course. Makoto laughs gently.

“What’s funny?” Sousuke says, idly picking up one of the books without a clue of what it is. Looking down at it, it’s thankfully a book about basses. That’s relevant for today. Thank God.

“Nothing.” Makoto replies, too turning to look among the books. Sousuke looks at him in the corner of his eye. “Are there any vocal books here?” Makoto continues, looking closer at the books.

“No.” Sousuke replies instantly, despite the fact that there are definitely vocal books somewhere in this store. Makoto turns to face him a little oddly. “Books aren’t any good. You have to sing freely, otherwise there’s no point.” Sousuke argues, still looking at him from the side. Makoto laughs again, causing Sousuke to raise an eyebrow at him.

“You sound like Haru.” Makoto says with a small smile.

“...Nanase doesn’t play by the book either, huh?” Sousuke replies, looking back over his shoulder at Haruka, who now has two strings restrung. Sousuke looks at him strangely, catching Makoto’s attention again.

“Mmm. He’s always played by ear and learnt everything he knows by himself.” Makoto says quietly. He too now looks back at Haruka, proudly.

Sousuke watches the guitarist restring the instrument for a second longer before turning back to face the books. He thinks for a moment again, considering his current thought before opening his mouth.

“Stay with me tonight.”

Makoto’s eyes instinctively widen at hearing Sousuke’s voice so soft besides him. He blinks for a second before looking back at him. Sousuke’s full attention is on the books stacked in front of him, though he knows that he wants to be facing him.

“...What?” Makoto says in reply. He watches curiously as Sousuke’s brows furrow again.

“You heard me.” He says in defence, looking slightly more away from him. “I want to talk to you properly. You can go home and get your things, and then…” Sousuke leads off, turning his head towards Makoto again.

“I... “ Makoto replies, suddenly feeling a little shy under Sousuke’s stare. He can’t believe he just asked him that. It’s so random to just… Ask out of the blue. “I’ll ask my parents.” He nods slowly.

“Okay.” Sousuke says quietly.

“Is everything okay, Sousuke?” Makoto asks in sudden feeling of worry. What could Sousuke want to possibly talk to him about? Maybe it’s the live show, or even their morning practices. _Or their recent habit of kissing_...

“Yeah.” Sousuke replies after a short moment. “I’m all good.” He nods confidently, glancing back at Makoto, who can tell he still looks a little tense.

“Good.” He smiles up at him warmly, in hopes of putting him at small ease. Fortunately, Sousuke’s expression softens.

And his heart skips a beat.

“Sou-chan! Get over here!” Nagisa calls out from the other side of the room, completely pulling the two out of their little daze.

“Right…” Sousuke mumbles, before quickly turning on his heel and walking over towards the trio that stand in front of the basses. Makoto smiles up at his figure before deciding to follow in tow.

“Based on everything I’ve read, the best bass for myself is one that has a narrow neck, a medium-weighted body, and a smooth, hard fretboard.” Rei notes out loud, looking among the large selection before them. “Smooth and hard, so that it wears slowly.”

“You’ve certainly done your research.” Rin smiles at him confidently, as does Makoto. Sousuke stands to Rei’s right, looking over the basses himself.

“Of course!” Rei says proudly, walking along, looking over the array, keeping his eyes peeled for those specific things he just listed.

“Oh, oh, Rei-chan! Look at this one!” Nagisa calls out, motioning for Rei and the others to come over and look at what he is- a bright pink bass, that glows with bright pink lights along the pitch black fretboard.

“Woah, nice!” Makoto cranes his head to get a better look. Both Sousuke and Rin look at it a little strangely. Rei himself is a little unsure how to feel about it. Sure, it’s a pretty design, but it looks a little more complicated than the one he’s looking for.

“Hmm…” Rei hums in thought, placing a hand to his chin. “It’s a rather nice design, but it doesn’t exactly match what I’m looking for.” He nods slowly as he speaks. Nagisa groans before going off to look for another.

“And we have to remember prices, too.” Makoto speaks up. “We’re kinda limited to these, huh?” He says, turning to the wall that holds up the cheaper, starter basses. He, Rin and Sousuke look among the basses before them, trying to match each one to Rei’s specifications.

“Just like old times, huh?” Rin says to Sousuke who stands at his side now, looking up at the instruments, being hit with a strong sense of nostalgia.

“Yeah…” He comments in response. Rin chuckles to himself.

“It’s good you’re willing to help.” Rin replies, taking one of the basses, black, from a stand and holding it. “Hmm… What do you think of this one, Sousuke? It’s pretty light.” Rin asks, holding it up in position.

“...It looks simple enough.” Sousuke nods back at him, looking over the bass himself. It looks a little boring and plain, but it should be good enough for Rei to start off with.

“Good. Hey, Rei! Look at this one! What do you think-”

“Beautiful…” Rei comments quietly, but loud enough for the other two to hear them. He squats down on the floor, facing one of the basses that sits propped up on the wall of the more expensive kind. It’s a lovely three-tone sunburnt brown in colour, with black and gold embellishments, and a glossy coat. Rin frowns at him a little.

“Rei, what do you think about this one?” Rin says, a little more softly this time. Rei hears him this time around, and slowly turns around to face him, before standing back to his full height.

“Ah.. Yes.” Rei hums quietly, looking down at his reflection in the instrument that Rin holds, before noticing that he can see the reflection of the other bass. “It’s a lot less eye-catching, but it does look simple.” He nods, not taking his eyes off of the reflection.

“You’re gonna have to work hard if you want this one, Rei.” Makoto says from behind them, standing besides the bass Rei was just looking at. The other three look back at Makoto in small surprise. “I had to work for the keyboard I have today.” Makoto continues. “I went through countless keyboards that were worse before I got the one I really wanted.”

“I see…” Rei mutters in agreement. He turns around to Makoto, or actually, the bass.

“So it’s better off to start off with something simple.” Rin nods, speaking loudly, but Rei doesn’t turn back to face him again.

“If you really like it, you should get that one. You don’t want to play something you won’t really care much for, otherwise you’ll get nothing done.” Sousuke joins in, this time attracting all of their attention towards him. Rin scowls at him slightly.

“Sousuke, that’s not how it-”

“I cannot, as it’s far more expensive than what I can afford at this moment.” Rei replies, sounding a little disappointed now.

“Not a problem!” Nagisa cheers. “Surely we can do a little haggling!” The smaller winks at them. The four look down at Nagisa, all wearing a slightly different expression, according to how they feel towards his suggestion.

“Haggling?” Rei and Makoto echo, a little confused in unison. Nagisa nods excitedly at them.

“Yup! Just watch and learn!” He says excitedly, before turning in the direction of the desk that a member of staff stands at.

“Nagisa, don’t you dare!” Rin growls at him, but it’s too late. He’s already flagged their attention. Is this how he got his drum set?

“Excuse me, but I couldn’t happen to get an offer on something, could I?” Nagisa looks up at the member of staff innocently. The older man looks back at Nagisa, a little offended. The creases in his forehead deepen as he tilts his head.

“An offer? What do you mean?” They reply, raising an eyebrow at him. Rin can feel his patience shortening just watching them.

“Hmm, well I happened to see a few marks on a bass guitar that one of my friends wanted, and I thought-”

“Marks? What kind of marks?” The man now asks, sounding a little intrigued.

“Oh, a couple scratches and a few other marks, all along the sides and down the front.” Nagisa continues, looking away casually.

“On display?” The older man looks at Nagisa for a moment longer before stepping out from behind the desk. “Where about is this bass?” He asks, but before Nagisa can lead him away, Rin shakes his head and steps forward, finally deciding to open his mouth before Nagisa does something stupid.

“Excuse me, Sir, it’s fine, we don’t need any discount.” Rin speaks out, walking over towards them. Nagisa turns around and pouts at him sadly, before moving closer to him and clinging on him.

“Hmm, Rin-chan! But it’s all scratched!” Nagisa butts in, acting all serious. He leans over on Rin with such force that it knocks his glasses off slightly. The staff member is silent as he watches the two, but more importantly, looking at Rin.

Rin then realises himself. He turns slowly upwards and looks up at the staff, seeing a brighter light behind him, as Nagisa has knocked off his sunglasses. He then realises that the staff member has recognized him, as he stares back at him wide-eyed in surprise, slowly moving back. His eyes, voice, and teeth have given it all away.

“...O-of course sir! How much of a discount were you wanting?” The staff member suddenly scrambles for his notepad, holding the pen shakily in his hand. He looks down at Nagisa in panic, who seems to be celebrating his success with a small gasp and a bright smile.

“Ahh, let’s see…” He then hums, placing a finger to his lips.

“Nagisa! We don’t need any-”

“Please, Mr Matsuoka,” The staff turns to Rin, looking a little afraid. Rin looks back at him, mirroring his expression. The older moves to take a small cellular looking device from his pocket.“The bass isn’t in great condition, we can get you a brand new one in stock, you can still have the discount, let me just call my-”

“Don’t, _please_ I can-”

“Twenty-four thousand!” Nagisa suddenly cheers happily, above both of them. Rin stares at Nagisa horrifyingly. That’s even less than half the price the bass actually is. And it isn’t even scratched.

“Of course, Sir!” The staff member calls out after Nagisa, writing down hastily on his notepad. “It’s all yours, twenty-four thousand. Which one is it?” He asks, pocketing his notepad. As Nagisa leads him off towards the bass with another cheer, the older man looks back over his shoulder at Rin again in fright. Rin can’t even form an expression right now.

“Wow, that’s amazing Nagisa!” Makoto gasps in small surprise as he walks away, over towards the bass with them. Rei follows them in tow in complete disbelief.

Sousuke himself moves to follow them, but he’s distracted by Rin, who stands still, head down and solemn expression. He doesn’t look happy at all. Sousuke’s eyes widen in concern, he tilts his head as he watches him. His shoulders slump back as he sighs out loud, and lifts a hand to push his sunglasses back into place.

Rin walks on ahead without another word. Even Haruka’s soft melodies that play gently around them can’t lift his mood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bazinga
> 
> There we go !! all of them !! have instrument !!! does souSUKE IS GAY??? ALL SHALL BE REVEALED??? NEXT CHAPTER !!! SEE YOU ?? THEN? !"!! aaaa
> 
> edit: I've had to come back and edit this twice bc my head is everywhere and my dumb ass can't edit properly smh
> 
> \---
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions regarding this fic and its updates! I love hearing your feedback!
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	28. Moonlight Therapy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part one of Makoto's night at Sousuke's.
> 
> awww yis boiis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To cut things short and not bore you all, over the past three weeks, I've moved house and college has been Kicking My Ass™. I am really, really sorry for the wait for this chapter, and I couldn't even update you all via tumblr or anything, as the entire time I had 0 access to any internet. So tonight I plan to make y'all happy this chappy
> 
> thanks to those who are patient with me.
> 
> but on a happier note, this is the longest chapter so far! so on that note, please enjoy!

Rei holds tightly onto his brand new bass, one that he shouldn't even have right now. But thanks to both Nagisa and Rin, mainly Rin, he has it here in his arm. As well as a few learning books that he managed to purchase with the remains of his money, sitting in a white plastic bag on his arm.  
  
He smiles proudly as he holds his new instrument in one arm, and waves off his friends with the other. Nagisa stands at his side, waving too, a little frantically. The others stand a couple yards away, facing them as they wave back happily.  
  
Haruka is the first to turn around, back towards their home, holding his new strings in his own plastic bag. Rin and Sousuke walk on his left, whilst Makoto is too his right. Much to Sousuke's, and partly Haruka's dismay, Makoto ended up buying himself a vocal book. It's not too thick in size, but it sure looked packed of helpful tips and ways to improve his vocals when Sousuke isn’t around.

He wonders if Sousuke will ask him to bring it over tonight. Probably not, since like Haruka, he believes that books are pointless. Whilst that through passes through his mind, Makoto also realises that it’s kinda quiet between the four of them. Haruka must be quietly thinking about restringing his guitar for a clearer sound or something along those lines… Maybe Rin is thinking about Rei’s new bass, and he hasn’t a clue what Sousuke could be possibly thinking about. Makoto clears his throat.

“I’m glad Rei got the bass he wanted, but at the same time, I feel like he should have just started off with something a little more simple…” He starts their conversation, smiling slightly.

“I don’t see why not. He got a pretty amazing discount and the one he wanted. That’s gonna thrive him to start.” Sousuke adds, looking on ahead though he speaks to Makoto. His train station is coming up soon.

“But it’s a pretty expensive and nice looking bass, how do we know he won’t slack and start looking at it’s beauty rather than playing? Maybe he _should_ have just gotten a starter…” Rin speaks up, feeling a little worried, and still a little shook up from before. Luckily for him, that was his only encounter with somebody that recognised him today.

“Surely that would inspire him to play rather than stare at it, right? And those books he bought should keep him company when he isn’t playing.” Makoto says in attempt to compromise Rin’s thoughts. “Rei looks like a determined guy, I doubt he’d let us down like that, I don’t think.”

“I guess you’re right…” Rin muses back, putting a brighter smile on Makoto’s face.

Sousuke now turns his head in the direction of the others, looking over Haruka at Makoto, who looks back at Rin. He watches as Makoto practically glistens under the afternoon sun. How is he always able to stay so positive about everything?

“Ah, this is your station right Sousuke?” Rin pipes up in a slightly lighter tone, looking back at Sousuke who jumps a little in sudden realisation. He looks up at the road sign that Rin gestures to with his head, reading the plain black letters that display _“Samezuka Station.”_

“Oh, yeah. This is my station.” Sousuke says, stupidly. _That much was obvious, Sousuke._ “I’ll see you at school…” He says a little quieter this time as he quickens his step towards the station.

Why does he feel nervous all of a sudden?

“Yeah, see you later Sousuke! Thanks for coming today!” Rin calls out as Sousuke turns towards his station. He watches as Sousuke looks back over his shoulder at the trio, waving to him, seeing Makoto do the same in the corner of his eye, and watches him disappear into the station. It’s quiet again as the three continue to walk home.

“...He was acting weird.” Haruka comments after a moment of silence.

“Sousuke?” Makoto tilts his head down at Haruka who walks between himself and Rin, still clutching onto his plastic bag. “How?”

“I don’t know.” Haruka shrugs quietly. “He was just acting strange. Didn’t you think so?” He asks, looking up at Rin to his right.  Rin cocks an eyebrow at him.

“What are you on about? He was fine.” Rin nods back at him. As he looks back at Haruka, he thinks about what Sousuke could possibly be acting strange over. It’s not like Haruka to point things out like that. Besides, he doesn’t even know Sousuke properly. Maybe Sousuke was feeling a little left out. He knows that Sousuke can play a bass, maybe he was just reminiscing. That must have been a little upsetting for him, then....

\---

As soon as he takes his usual seat towards the back of the train, his phone is actually the first thing he goes to for once. After plugging in his headphones, he loads up his music playlists. He thinks about organising them for a moment before sudden frustration comes over him, forcing him to just pick something at random. He backs out of the music folder, and opens up his notes, immediately thumbing at the plastic keys of his phone. He can hear the clicking through the beat of his music at times, though he can’t exactly focus on what’s playing right now.

He isn’t even too sure of what he’s writing. Words spout from his brain when he pictures certain things, whether they make sense or not doesn’t matter. He just needs to get them out of his head, and down onto something else.

He’s semi-aware of the fact that the other passengers, there aren’t that many, can hear him typing madly, but it doesn’t slow him down. If he forgets what he’s about to write, it’ll be gone forever.

A text comes through, appearing at the top of his screen. Sousuke pauses to read it as soon as he sees the name of the contact.

_[Makoto: Hi :). Are you alright? Just thought I’d ask, you seemed a little off today. See you later!]_

Sousuke stares at the bright characters a moment longer, before letting the notification disappear. He returns back to his word sputtering, this time a little more infuriated.

\---

“Awww…” The twins groan in unison from hearing that their big brother is staying out again. Makoto is amidst packing his bag with toiletries, just his toothbrush and deodorant. He sits up on his bed, looking back at the twins that pout at his door.

“It’s just for one night. I’ll be back tomorrow and we can do whatever you guys want.” Makoto assures them with a soft smile. Ran suddenly lightens up, looking up at her brother with bright eyes.

“You mean we can play house again?” She asks cutely, smiling hopefully. Makoto blinks for a second before noticing Ren looking up at him in the same way. He smiles gently back at the two, nodding.

“And you’ll be our dog again?” Ren adds. Makoto glances back at him in minimal regret. He has to admit that crawling around on his knees and barking like a dog every so often is rather embarrassing, but the twins, they’re young and it seems to make them happy.

“Of course. Now, who’s going to be the Mom this time?” Makoto asks with a small smirk, knowing this will cause a little stir between the two. He chuckles lightly to himself as both of the twins go into shock before giving each other that serious look.

“Me! I’m gonna be the mom this time!” Ran calls out first, looking back at Ren competitively. Ren looks a little upset for a moment, looking at his sister before looking up at his big brother.

“That’s not fair, you’re always the mom, Ran!” Ren cries, pouting at her. But his cute looks don’t fool her, instead, she looks away with a serious expression. Makoto inwardly regrets asking them that question.

“That’s because I make a better mom, don’t I onii-chan?” Ran looks back up to her older brother, who scowls at the two of them.

“Now now, you two. It was just a question, don’t start fighting.” Makoto scolds them, standing up from his bed and walking over towards them. He kneels down once he reaches them so that he’s eye to eye with them. “Why don’t you take it turns being the mom?”

“Hmmm… I’ve got it!” Ran exclaims suddenly, shooting up. Makoto’s eyes widen a little at her sudden movements. Ren looks over at her too, curiously. “Why don’t we play dress up?”

“Dress up?” Both Makoto and Ren chime together.

“Mmhmm!” Ran nods excitedly, showing her bright smile to both of her brothers. “Ren and I can take it in turns dressing up Onii-chan!”

“Me!?” Makoto cries out this time, honestly a little taken aback by his little sister’s sudden decision. Ren’s face lights up as he nods too in excitement, and this time Makoto can’t say no to them.

“Ran, let’s go and look for things to dress Onii-chan in!” Ren says giddily, gripping his sister by the arm and tugging her back in the direction of their room down the hallway.

Makoto stays put propped down on one knee, fixed in position as he blinks helplessly, listening to the cheers his siblings make as they run down the hallway and into their room. After a moment he stands of course, shaking his head and laughing lightly.

Now, it’s actually about time that he played a little dress up himself. He still has to decide what outfit to wear for tomorrow, and if he needs to make any changes to his current outfit now before he heads off to Sousuke’s place. As he looks over himself in the mirror, he thinks to himself. It’s honestly still a little surreal that he’s staying there tonight.

But he hasn’t told Haruka nor has he told Rin, and he doesn’t plan on doing so. And it looks like Sousuke has planned on doing the same thing. He knows that neither Haruka or Rin would take this whole kissing thing well. It’s like their little secret.

Makoto wishes it was their little secret, at least. He knows that Sousuke has been allowing him to kiss him recently, but he knows that Sousuke just doesn’t feel the same way. And it’s gonna hurt him every time he thinks about it, even though it shouldn’t.

But… Why does he keep letting him do it?

Before he can even make a start on preparing some clothes, his phone buzzes to remind him to do so. He looks over at the cell phone lying idly on his bed, seeing the screen light up. He walks over towards it, and picks it up immediately from seeing the name lighting up on his screen.

_[Sousuke: im fine thanks. see you soon.]_

Huh. That’s the first time Sousuke has ever used the word ‘thanks’ when speaking to him. Though he believes that Sousuke isn’t being truthful here, he puts his phone back down on the bed and goes about looking for an outfit.

After a while of sorting through, he decides to just go through with his black jeans and his olive jumper that he wore at Haru’s that night when he called Rin around to help clean his guitar. He smiles fondly at the memory before folding the clothes neatly and placing them into his bag, as well as a clean pair of socks and underwear, both black.

He then takes his phone again and heads back downstairs, where his parents are currently cleaning up the kitchen after dinner.

“Makoto, do be careful out tonight. Text me when you get there so we know you’re safe, okay?” His mother pipes up from hearing him coming down the stairs.

“I will, mom.” Makoto nods. “Do you need any help cleaning before I go?” He asks, seeing that the dishes haven’t been done yet.

“I’ll do those.” His father appears in the small window in the wall, wiping down the counters. He looks up at Makoto in appreciation. “You don’t want to miss your train, do you? You’d better get going.” He chuckles, making Makoto nod quickly in sudden realisation that he has to get a train.

“Oh, text me when you’re on the train, too honey!” His mother calls out as Makoto turns towards the door. “Ran, Ren, come and say goodbye to your brother!”

On cue, the twins come running down the stairs, still hyped up from their sudden game idea from before. They bounce towards their brother, almost knocking the bag off of his back.

“Onii-chan, hurry home tomorrow! We have the best outfits for you!” Ran cheers, throwing her small arms up in the air. Ren nods timidly besides her. Makoto smiles warmly at them.

“I can’t wait to try them on. Now, you two behave for mom and dad, and I’ll see you tomorrow.” Makoto grins at them, ruffling their hair before standing back to full height again.

“Have fun, Makoto!” His mother calls out from the kitchen.

“I will, goodbye!” Makoto calls back, looking back over his shoulder and waving at his family that wave back at him. He always feels like he’s going away forever when he leaves his home. His family just make him feel that way, but he loves them all dearly.

He steps out and closes the door behind him, taking a deep breath, taking in the scent of cool spring nights, and begins his journey down towards the train station.

\---

Whilst on the train, Makoto remembers to send his mother a quick text. He still thinks it’s a little odd that his mother is allowing him to stay out at a friend’s she doesn’t even know the name of, but he’s grateful nonetheless. He taps out a quick message for her, sending it and then sitting back.

He knows that he doesn’t need to worry over getting lost on the train, as Sousuke’s stop is the very last one. The train ride was around half an hour the last time he went to Samezuka, but tonight the trains are pretty much empty, so it shouldn’t take as long…

Makoto decides to listen to his MP3 player for the rest of the ride. His earphones are in his bag, so he pulls it off of his back and sets it to his side. He rummages around inside his backpack for his earphones, but something small and cylinder-shaped brushes against his fingers, putting a confused look on Makoto’s face.

For a minute he thinks it’s some sort of battery that found it’s way into there, but then he peers inside for himself and sees a shiny tube looking back at him. The brand name gives away that it’s a lip balm. And then it clicks in his head. It’s one of Sousuke’s freebies that he somehow managed to get a lot of.

With a small laugh, he takes out the tube and examines it for a moment longer. It’s a shimmering red colour, and is apparently cola flavoured. In curiosity, Makoto uncaps the lip balm, revealing a cola coloured stick. He tilts his head as he twists the lip balm, bringing it up a little closer.

Makoto examines the product for a second longer before catching his reflection in the window of the train. He stares at himself for a moment, seeing the reflection of the train lights mixing in with the night sky, eyes slightly widened, open and slightly chapped lips.

He looks back at the lip balm for a second longer before bringing it closer to his nose, sniffing at it. It actually does smell like cola. It’s very tempting but, he can’t eat it, and surely it’ll taste a little waxy if he were to kiss….

Makoto shakes his head, and looks back at his reflection in the window again as he applies it to his lips.

For the rest of the train journey, Makoto switches between pressing his lips together and licking them. He goes back into his bag for his earphones, retrieving them and listening to his music as he continues to discover the delicacy of his lips.

\---

Surprisingly, Sousuke is stood waiting at the station when Makoto departs the train. At his feet is Chouko, attached by a lead, doing her happy dance. Sousuke dons his blue hoodie, light grey shirt and black jeans, accompanied by the same black sneakers he wore last time they met here.

“Sousuke… I wasn’t expecting to meet you here.” Makoto is the first to speak, as he walks over towards the two a little hesitantly. Chouko runs over towards him, which coincidentally pulls Sousuke a little closer to him, too.

“It’s late out. You can’t walk around alone at this time of night.” Sousuke replies, looking away. Makoto smiles up at him, grateful for Sousuke being here with him. It makes him feel a little warmer on this cold night. Huh. That sounds like some sort of song lyric.

“Thank you..” Makoto speaks up. “I didn’t think you’d bring Chouko out with you. She must be so cold out here.” He notes, looking down at Chouko as she barks happily before turning and leading the way back, looking up expectantly at Sousuke who holds her lead.

“Her fur’s pretty thick. That should keep her warm.” Sousuke says, walking on ahead a little before looking back over his shoulder at Makoto. “Come on…”

Makoto smiles at the two before hurrying to catch up with them. He shoves his hands in his pockets.

“Maybe you should get her a little coat.” Makoto adds, looking back up at Sousuke who continues to look ahead. His eyes widen a little at the suggestion. Makoto chuckles to himself. “That would be adorable.”

“I already look like a fucking idiot walking around with that furball, what do you think makes me want to put a little coat on her?” Sousuke says in defence, but it doesn’t rid of Makoto’s laughter. Sousuke grits his teeth. His laugh is so charming.

“I think you suit her, Sousuke.” Makoto replies with a smile. This time he successfully gains Sousuke’s attention. The taller looks back down at him a little oddly.

“What do you mean?” He says, still sounding defensive. Makoto smiles again, Sousuke has to fight the urge to look away again.

“It’s still a little odd, but I can’t picture you with any other dog now. I always thought when you told us you had a dog, I imagined a big scary dog.” Makoto admits, still smiling, turning to look down at the ground. “But Chouko appeared and she really suits you. You suit cute things….” He mumbles under his breath, but the night is lonely, and Sousuke can still hear him.

“So you’re tryna tell me I suit you?” Sousuke says in spite, smirking to himself and looking away finally, hearing Makoto getting all choked up besides him.

“N-no! What made you say that?” Makoto wheezes out in panic, looking back up at Sousuke’s smirk with slightly flushed cheeks.

“What? I knew that’s what you were hinting at.” Sousuke continues, a hint of mischief evident in his voice. Makoto lowers his eyebrows at him, thinking of something to say in reply before what started this, hits him.

“So you’re saying I’m cute?” Makoto replies playfully. This time, he wears the smirk when he sees Sousuke’s face turning completely blank.

“No.” He says quickly, as if in attempt to cover something up. “Stop looking at me like that.” He adds, without even looking at Makoto.

“But Sousuke, you wrote it on the paper…” Makoto adds, smirk becoming a smile as he watches Sousuke panic; his eyes widen and his mouth opens slightly. He blinks rapidly for a second before shutting his mouth, and baring a straight face.

“I didn’t write anything.” He says, still not paying any attention to Makoto, though he knows what Makoto is saying is true. Makoto giggles to himself again. He knew that what Sousuke wrote on the lyrics that day was gonna make a return one day.

“You say that, but I have proof in my bag.” Makoto adds. Sousuke silently admits defeat and groans out loud, followed by Makoto’s soft laughter for the tenth time that day.

\---

As soon as Sousuke lets Chouko off of the lead, she immediately goes straight into the kitchen, lapping at her water whilst she waits for Sousuke to take the hint. Sousuke himself takes off his shoes and leaves them by the door before following his puppy into the kitchen, reaching for the box of dry food and refilling her bowl.

Makoto makes himself comfortable in the corner of the couch. None of the lights in the room are switched on, but the only light that is present in the room is the rise of moonlight coming through from the outside window.

Sousuke watches his pet eat for a moment before turning around and heading back out towards the living room. He pauses in the kitchen doorframe as he gazes at the view set in front of him.

The pale blue moonlight bounces off of Makoto’s skin as he himself gazes up at the moon. He looks completely peaceful, his eyes glimmer and his lips are slightly parted in small awe. Sousuke almost wants to just leave him there forever. He frowns to himself before moving forward towards him.

Makoto hears footsteps approaching from behind him. Though he knows who it is, he still turns and looks up at Sousuke, who now steps out into the moonlight, looking back at him. The lighting really brings out the colour in his eyes. He looks absolutely gorgeous in this light.

In recognition that the two were just staring at each other, Makoto is the first to look away, looking out at the opposite corner of the couch. He looks there until he feels the couch dipping besides him.

Makoto looks back at Sousuke, eyes widened a little as Sousuke kicks his feet up on the coffee table. He’s just wearing socks, so there won’t be any marks on there. It’s suddenly silent again, as Makoto settles back into the couch, semi-basking in their small ambience.

“So…” Makoto begins quietly, pursing his lips together, suddenly feeling a little nervous. “What did you want to talk about?” He asks timidly.

Sousuke’s eyebrows furrow slightly for a moment. He takes a deep breath, not turning to look at Makoto, but instead, looks down at the small space between their laps.

“I-”

Anything that Sousuke has to say is suddenly drowned out by sudden squeaks. Makoto jumps slightly at the loud noise, calming a little when Chouko makes herself known by running up to them, a toy in her mouth. Sousuke sighs.

“Chouko, go and play with Mr Fluffles somewhere else.” Sousuke commands her, but she doesn’t plan on moving anywhere. Makoto huffs amusedly from besides him.

“Mr Fluffles? That’s a pretty cute name, Sousuke.” Makoto pipes up cheerfully. Sousuke freezes again, knowing fully well that Makoto is watching him.

“I didn’t come up with it, it was on the box.” Sousuke replies after a short silence. Makoto cranes his neck to try and get a look at the other, a small smile on his face. He knows for sure that Sousuke gave the toy the name.

“Box? Why was it in a box?” He asks, teasingly. Sousuke’s eyebrows furrow even further. He looks kind of cute in the light. Makoto’s smile softens.

“I ordered it online.” Is Sousuke’s simple response.

“I’m pretty sure there’s pet stores nearby…” Makoto leads the conversation again, not giving up just yet.

“Chouko’s pretty picky when it comes to toys.” Sousuke begins, inwardly panicking when Chouko drops the toy at Makoto’s feet, who happily bends down to pick it up and play with her. “She has to have specific ones otherwise she won’t play with them.” He watches tensely as Makoto takes the toy and launches it across the room. Chouko runs after it immediately.

“That’s-”

“Damnit, it’s a dog toy! Stop asking questions!” Sousuke snaps at him, taking his feet down from the coffee table in some sort of stance. Makoto glances back at him a little surprised before leaning back into the couch. The two watch in silence as Chouko returns, squeaking the toy excitedly. Makoto shuffles closer, picks up the toy and throws it again.

“You seem to be very protective over Mr Fluffles..” Makoto smirks again, sitting back. He doesn’t get a moment to laugh as Sousuke’s elbow jabs him in the arm. “Ouch!”

“Shut up…” Sousuke grumbles, looking away again. Makoto looks over at him with a small pout, noticing the tiniest blush on Sousuke’s cheeks.

“That hurt.” Makoto says mutely, pouting up at him until he looks back his way.

“Sorry…” Sousuke utters. Makoto’s eyes widen slightly. It’s silent from then on, Chouko doesn’t even bother coming back to them once she’s retrieved her toy.

“...I don’t think I’ve ever heard you apologise to me before, Sousuke.” Makoto adds with a small smile. Though, it’s true what he said. Sousuke really isn’t that much of a polite guy.

“I said shut up…” Sousuke cuts in again. Makoto still smiles at him, watching as he opens his mouth again, looking up towards the window. “I apologise to you in a different way.” He mumbles.

Makoto’s eyes widen at that. He apologises to him in a different way? He thinks about it for a moment longer, before realising what he means. He kisses him in apology. So… All those times he kissed him, they were an apology for something?

“Then why did you change that just now?” Makoto asks, maybe a little suggestively. He looks over at Sousuke expectantly, but what he doesn’t expect is for Sousuke to suddenly start bubbling with laughter. Makoto raises an eyebrow at him.

“That’s why you wore the lip balm, isn’t it?” Sousuke smirks this time looking back up at a horrified Makoto. He continues when the other is stunned to a silence. “I saw you putting it on before you got off the train.”

“Huh?” Makoto tilts his head slightly. He genuinely didn’t even think about Sousuke being there when he threw on the last minute application.

“You wore it because you knew I like cola.” Sousuke adds, tilting his head back at Makoto, who feels a little threatened. Sousuke sure knows how to change the game around....

“I… I just felt like my lips were a little chapped, is all.” Makoto stutters stupidly, feeling the blush transferring over from Sousuke to himself.

“Bullshit.” Sousuke huffs, still wearing that smile. The moonlight showers over him, giving his eyes a mischievous glint. “You want another kiss, don’t you?” He purrs. Makoto feels himself shrivelling up under Sousuke’s sight.

“Ah! N- _no!_ That’s not what I-”

“Makoto, I don’t mind. Honestly.” Sousuke continues, moving a little closer and seeing Makoto’s blush turning a shade darker. He chuckles lowly again, leaning in a little bit.

But he’s suddenly met with Makoto’s cheek instead of his lips.

Makoto turns his head away from Sousuke, clearly not accepting it. Sousuke pulls back for a moment in confusion, glancing at Makoto, who looks slightly peeved.His eyebrows are lowered and his eyes are closed. It takes a while for him to finally open them, softly looking away.

“I don’t want a kiss if it’s not going to mean anything…” Makoto calmly utters. And he’s right.

Sure, he’d love to kiss Sousuke right now, but he wants it to have meaning. There’s no point in being kissed by someone you like that doesn’t like you, just for a smile that’ll last a couple minutes. Makoto thinks about it to himself as he feels Sousuke staring at him. He chooses to keep the rest of his words to himself.

Sousuke feels guilty. Incredibly guilty.

“Right…” Sousuke nods mutely. It’s painfully silent again, as he feels the sudden need to flee from the situation. He knows it’s incredibly cowardly of himself to do, but he can’t bare to see Makoto upset for a moment longer. “I’m gonna go and take a shower… Make yourself at home, I guess.”

Makoto doesn’t even bother looking up at him as the seat next to him rises. He listens to Sousuke walking away as he now looks up at the skies above them through the window. That usually helped him at home. He waits until he hears Sousuke’s bathroom door closing before he gets comfortable again.

He sighs silently to himself as he looks endlessly at the moon. He knows what he said was right, but now he kind of feels bad for Sousuke. He guesses that he was just trying to make him happy.

The sound of water running fills the apartment, and makes Makoto think of rain. He smiles softly as he remembers thinking to himself about his first kiss fantasy. Though, he is kind of glad the way it happened. And he is glad that it did happen. He’s glad that Sousuke knows how he feels.

He sighs silently again, looking down at his lap, before lifting his head a little and deciding to have a lazy look around at Sousuke’s living room to pass the time. At first, he decides to look over the bottom shelf of the coffee table, since it’s closest to him, and he’s too comfortable to move.

There’s a small pile of magazines, that appear to be about fitness. Sousuke surely must be into keeping in shape. Next to those are envelopes, probably from the post about things like bills and school letters. Makoto still has no idea about how Sousuke pays for his apartment.

Besides those is of course his apartment lease. That was there in the same place it was the last time he visited. On the right side of those are two more things, a notebook and… Are those _hair straighteners?_

Makoto leans forward in his seat to get a better look at the strange object, but has his attention stolen by the notebook besides it. He’s never seen Sousuke with that notebook before at school. Maybe he keeps it for studying at home. It’s rather small, so he wouldn’t fit much into it…Now he’s curious.

He knows it’s rude to snoop around in somebody else’s things, but maybe one little snoop wouldn’t hurt… Besides, Sousuke is busy in the shower, and he’ll close it as soon as he knows what’s in there…

Makoto looks back over his shoulder towards the sounds of the shower running, and then back to the notebook that’s now in his hands. It suddenly hits him that Sousuke is in the shower, with a wall just separating them. He thinks about it for a moment longer…Sousuke, alone, wet and _naked_ in the shower.

In panic, Makoto shakes his head of any thoughts before something happens. He shakes off any sweat and hurriedly opens the notebook to take his mind off of his dirty thoughts.

But his look of panic is immediately replaced with one of surprise as he discovers that this little notebook is _completely_ filled with lines of words. He flips through the book quickly, finding only few spaces of white paper. Some are written neatly, others are scrawled hastily. Not a page is empty. He pauses to actually read what’s written on one of the pages.

 _‘i cant sleep but neither can you  
_ _watch the sunrise with me’_

Makoto reads over the words a couple times. Are these Sousuke’s personal thoughts? Who is the other person? Curiously, Makoto turns a few pages and reads another chunk of writing.

 _‘i dont wanna be nice  
_ _youre hard to resist’_

Maybe Sousuke wants to be a poet. That’s one of his thoughts for now. This surely is interesting… He never would have expected Sousuke to do anything like this. He smiles to himself as he reads a few more, wondering who they’re about. Something childish within him wishes it was about him. He decides to read a longer one this time.

 _‘moonrise  
_ _purple skies  
_ _you and i  
_ _our thin lines_  
holding’

Huh. That one kind of sounded like some sort of song lyric… Wait. _Is that what these are?_ Makoto hurriedly reads another for any answers. And what does thin lines even mean?

 _‘ever green  
_ _my sweet dream’_

“What are you doing?”

The notebook flies out of Makoto’s grasp as he himself shoots up from the couch in surprise with a pitchy yelp. He didn’t even recognise the sounds of the shower turning off. Makoto looks up in panic at Sousuke, dressed in a loose tank top and baggy sweatpants. He’d say the look was kind of hot if it weren't for the bright white towel wrapped around his head, holding his hair up.

“I- I uh-”

It’s then when Sousuke’s face goes completely pale, and his eyes shrink as he notices the notebook landing in Makoto’s lap.

“Where did you find that?” Sousuke says quickly, lunging over and snatching the notebook, bounding back onto the couch. “Were you looking through it?” He continues, drawing the book close to him before hiding it behind his back.  
  
“I, I didn’t set out to l,” Makoto blubbers, trying to think of an excuse as Sousuke glares at him. He must be so embarrassed. “There wasn’t anything to do to pass time, and-”

“What about the TV? I thought you of all people would have known a thing or two about snooping.” Sousuke barks, not taking his eyes off of Makoto as his heart rate rockets, in fear that he may have read certain pages.

“I was just a little curious…” Makoto mumbles, looking away from him. “I’m really sorry.”

Sousuke glares at him a moment longer before softening up a little at Makoto’s appearance. He looks away too, doing a good job of keeping his blush down. He takes the book out from behind his back, securing it closed, and puts it back into it's original place.

“Did you see anything?” He asks quietly after a short silence. Makoto rustles around a little besides him.

“Only a few… Did you really write those, Sousuke?” Makoto replies, just as quiet. He tilts his head at him lightly. He knows fully well from that one literature lesson that all of the pages in there are soaked in Sousuke’s handwriting.

“...Yeah.” Sousuke admits in defeat. He slumps forward on the couch, elbows gently resting on his knees. “Not about anybody.” He adds, making Makoto giggle. Surprised, he looks over at Makoto. “What?”

“Nothing. I can’t take you seriously with that towel on your head.” Makoto laughs again, covering his mouth as he laughs again. Sousuke’s glare hardens. For a moment, Makoto thinks that Sousuke is going to take off the towel, but he doesn’t.

“I have sensitive hair. I have to keep it like this until it’s completely dry.” Sousuke replies, looking Makoto hard in the eye.

“Oh…” Makoto mutters, softening a little under his stare. “I think you’d be a great poet, Sousuke.” He adds, smiling at him cheerily.

“Is that meant to be a joke?” Sousuke glares again. Though, it isn’t making Makoto uncomfortable enough to stop talking about it, it’s actually having the opposite effect and making him happy.

“No! Not at all.” Makoto nods happily. “I think what you wrote was beautiful, though I didn’t understand some of it, it sounded nice. How long have you been writing them for?” He asks, making Sousuke uncomfortable this time.

“Well… I started when we first started second year.” He admits, glancing away from him. Makoto gets a little choked up in surprise.

“Second year!?” Makoto cries, looking at Sousuke wide-eyed. That whole book was filled from beginning to end, surely he couldn’t have written _all of that_ in a couple months...

“I just started writing down whatever came to mind. It was something I started doing before I went to sleep, like some sort of calming therapy or something to help clear my mind.” Sousuke speaks, sighing out and laying back.

“Usually if I wanted to clear my mind, I’d do something like this… Relaxing in my bed, and looking out at the moon.” Makoto says, laughing a little. “It sounds kinda corny, I know.. Maybe I should invest in a notebook, too.” He thinks, looking back out of the window in thought. Sousuke lifts his head and looks at him softly. “What you wrote sounded like some sort of song… Maybe that could help me.”

“I wish I would have mentioned it earlier.” Sousuke adds. Makoto then turns to look back at him, his expression gentle and innocent. “Then maybe your lyrics wouldn’t be so cutesy.”

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Makoto cries out over Sousuke’s laughter, though, he can’t help but join in after hearing Sousuke’s soft chuckles.

Sousuke’s laughter calms slightly, as he turns to look Makoto in the eye. It turns into a small hum, and then a smile. Makoto reflects his emotions, it seems, as he gazes happily back at Sousuke.

It’s silent again, but it’s bearable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ever green my sweet dream im fuckcing scream thats gay as fuck
> 
> there we have it !! part one of soumako sleepover !!
> 
> part two shall be on the way vERY soon i promise! <3 
> 
> gang its fucking 11:45pm and not 8 in the morning whos proud of me
> 
> \---
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions regarding this fic and its updates! I love hearing your feedback!
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	29. Under the Starlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part Two of Makoto's night at Sousuke's
> 
> aka my fav chapter?
> 
> gay ass title

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy halloween i dont have candy but i do have some soumakos *finger guns*
> 
> enjoy ;))))))))
> 
> my smoke alarm just went off for no apparent reason what the fuck calm down smoke alarm smh

As the night grows, the two get talking about casual things like school work, and the band. Sousuke mentions how they should make their morning sessions a little longer like they did last time. Makoto is tempted to agree, but he would miss walking with his friends every morning. After he makes it clear that he’s a little uncomfortable with the idea, giving short replies, Sousuke silences himself. He then goes on to bring up their sleeping plans for the night.

“I think I have a spare blanket in the cupboard if you want to stay in here tonight.” Sousuke begins, standing up from the couch. Makoto blinks at his use of the word ‘if’.

“Sure, I don't mind.” Makoto says in reply, smiling gratefully at him. He watches curiously as Sousuke nods back at him, then wanders off somewhere else, probably to fetch the blanket. He ponders to himself for a moment, about the fact that Sousuke didn't exactly specify why he brought Makoto over. He said earlier today that he wanted to talk about something… Maybe he just wanted to see him again.

As he continues to think, another thought hits him that he should probably change into his nightwear. He pulls his bag up onto his lap, opens it and pulls out his pyjamas; some baggy pyjama pants and a loose shirt. He has to be completely comfortable, and hates wearing tight clothes when he sleeps. 

Makoto goes about undressing, taking off his clothing and folding them up, standing bare in his boxers in the middle of Sousuke’s living room. He hurries a little; it's a little chilly out tonight, and Sousuke should be back anytime soon with that-

“Ahem.”

_ “Gah!” _ Makoto cries out for the second time today. He turns back around hurriedly and sees Sousuke standing there, blanket-less. Feeling his legs shiver slightly at being caught undressed Makoto fumbles to say anything. How long was he standing there for?  _ “S-Sousuke!”  _

“Forgot I used the blanket for Chouko’s bed.” He says casually, though his movements and expression isn't exactly that. It's obvious he’s trying to look cool, but with that towel still on his head, he looks anything but cool. “You can stay in my bed with me. I'll let you change in here. Bedroom’s straight along.” Sousuke continues, turning around mid sentence and letting his decision echo through the hall, walking swiftly back to his room in some sort of hurry.

Makoto fixes in silence, blinking again as he watches Sousuke’s shadow disappear down the hallway. Great. So he's seen him almost naked, and now he’s going to have to share a bed with him. Makoto can't decide if this was everything he wanted, or everything he didn't want. Shaking his head, he slips into his pyjamas, leaves his bag by the couch, and swallows thickly.

As he makes his way towards Sousuke’s bedroom, he thinks about what he’s about to do. A sudden rush of possibilities hit him. What if Sousuke only has a single bed? Surely both of their bodies can't fit into it. Then again, he himself can't even fit into a single, so he doubts Sousuke could, either.    
  
Oh God. What if he has another one of those dreams again?    
  
Makoto doesn't even get enough time to even process that thought as he's already reached Sousuke's room. Which to be fair, well…

Sousuke's room doesn't look that much of your typical teenage boy’s room. It's… Empty. There aren't any posters on the walls, or any plants or anything. Not even a book or a Tv. The walls are all the same boring magnolia colour. A plain, dark oak wardrobe stands tall, backed up against one wall, and his laptop is propped up on his desk, the same wood, besides it. On the wall facing them, is Sousuke’s,  _ thank the Lord _ , double bed. A smaller, but still reasonably big, fluffy bed is on the floor besides it. That would be Chouko’s bed. Sousuke sits on his own bed, playing about aimlessly on his phone. He looks up at hearing Makoto’s footsteps, and doesn't make any sort of expression as he gazes across the room at him, still with that stupid towel on his head.

Makoto gets the sudden idea to tempt him to take it off. He wants to see Sousuke’s wet hair, maybe to just get one little envision of his shower look. He probably looks so good...

“Don't you think that if your hair is sensitive, then you should take the towel off?” Makoto smiles over at Sousuke, as he steps inside a little further, opting to sit down in Sousuke’s desk chair, facing him.

“It doesn't work like that…” Sousuke looks away, muttering to himself before lifting his head and looking back to Makoto. “If I let it air dry, it's more prone to falling out. So if I towel dry it, it’ll stay together inside the towel.” He says. Makoto looks at him suspiciously. Though what Sousuke is saying still has some kind of logic to it, he still isn't buying it. 

Wait… Maybe Sousuke is dying his hair. Maybe he doesn't want to take the towel off because of all the residue left on it. Makoto thinks about it for a second longer before dismissing it as stupid. Sousuke's hair has always looked healthy, and he's never seen any discolored strands or anything. There has to be another reason…

“And I thought Rin was persistent over his hair..” Makoto teases lightly, hoping that it strikes a chord within him, though it only gets a scoff from Sousuke.

“I'm not persistent. Rin’s just an ass.” Sousuke says in defence, making Makoto laugh lightly.

“You say that, but he's still your best friend, right?” Makoto replies, gazing over at Sousuke and focusing on his facial expressions. He seems a little tense.

“Of course…” Sousuke utters. Makoto watches him curiously. “Don't you ever say that about your friends? Like, jokingly?” He says suddenly.

“No… I think my friends are nice people.” Makoto mumbles. Not that he was condescending Sousuke in any way… After a little silence, he hears a tiny sigh from the other side of the room.

“...Come sit up here.” Sousuke mumbles, but loud enough for Makoto to hear. 

Makoto looks up to him a little lost, before chewing the inside of his lip, standing from the chair and making his way over towards Sousuke’s bed. The bed is located against the furthest wall, under the window, so the moonlight spreads out on the wall facing, not on the bed at all, where Makoto would prefer it to be.

He plops himself down at the edge of Sousuke’s bed, turning to face him and crossing his legs a little. It's a little quiet from then on, as Sousuke goes about playing on his phone for a minute longer, before putting it down on the bedside table, and looking down at himself. Makoto glances up at him. He seems a little uncomfortable. Maybe now he wants to talk..

_ Bark! _

Makoto jumps a little, almost falling off of the bed as he looks back over his shoulder. There, he’s met with the sight of tiny little Chouko, clawing at one of the bedposts, seemingly wanting to climb up. Makoto smiles at her, before remembering and looking back at Sousuke.

“It's fine…” He mutters, watching the two. He watches again as Makoto regains his smile, reaching down and pulling up the puppy, putting her down on the bed and immediately petting her. Chouko climbs up on Makoto’s lap, emitting that little giggle from him. Sousuke looks away again.

That is, until Chouko herself decides to come happily bounding over to him instead. Then he looks down at her, as she sticks out her tongue at him. She hops up onto his lap, placing her little paws on his chest as she leans up to lick his chin. That puts a small smile on his face. He lifts a hand to pet her fur, and she surprisingly stays put in his lap, until she gets the devilish little idea to hop up again and tug at the towel on his head.

With a choked out gasp, Sousuke manages to quickly make a grip onto the back of the towel, keeping it securely on his head. Makoto chuckles at the two, as Sousuke softly glares at the dog.

“Looks like Chouko wants you to take it off, too.” Makoto still laughs softly, watching as Sousuke re-ties the two ends of the towel at the back of his head. Chouko climbs out of Sousuke’s lap and walks over towards the edge of the bed, seemingly giving up on her little mission and slowly lowering her front legs over the edge as her tail curls up a little. Makoto takes the hint and slides his hand under Chouko’s soft belly and lowers her down onto the floor. She gives a small shake before running off out of the room.

“Looks like Chouko’s gonna have to deal with it, too.” Sousuke utters under his breath, laying back a little onto his plumped up pillows, getting comfortable. Makoto huffs a small laugh out of having nothing else to do.

Silence fills the room again. It’s uncomfortable on Sousuke’s part, but Makoto seems to be dealing with it just fine. He knows that Sousuke wants to talk about something, so he should just let Sousuke decide when the time is right. Though, he can’t help but be curious about it. He did ask him in particular to come over, and not Rin, his best friend. This is something he can’t even tell _ him _ . Is it to do with his hair? Is it something that Rin will probably laugh at?

The atmosphere around them is calming, but it’s still a little unsettling. It really doesn’t feel like home, or homely at all. There’s a pretty big amount of questions on both of their minds, and they’re so close, but still so distant.

Makoto doesn’t even realise that throughout these thoughts, he’s looking Sousuke right in the eye. Sousuke blinks slowly.  _ Then _ he realises. But before Makoto can open his mouth and blabber out an excuse, Sousuke beats him to it.

“Makoto…” He begins, turning away and glancing down at himself, before looking back up at Makoto seriously. Makoto’s eyes widen at his expression. “Why do you like me?”

Makoto is still for a moment as Sousuke’s question. That must be it, then. Does he mean this friend-wise? He suddenly shoots down the thought after remembering that this is  _ him _ that he’s asked, someone who has romantic interests in him, and not another friend of his. As he gazes at Sousuke, he comes to terms with his reasonings.

He  _ has _ been struck with the typical ‘tall, dark and handsome’ trope that most people have, as Sousuke comes under each of those aspects. But that’s not it. And that’s not bad. There’s more towards it, more about Sousuke that makes Makoto want him more.

“Well…” Makoto starts, feigning small shyness in his voice suddenly. He hasn’t mastered hiding his feelings yet. He looks deep into Sousuke’s eyes as he carries on. “It started off as just a looks thing. I… I couldn’t-” Makoto stops suddenly, feeling himself burning up under Sousuke’s gaze.

“Go on.” Sousuke speaks up, edging him on. He looks like he’s not going to let Makoto get away with it.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you..” Makoto squeaks out, wincing a little and looking away from Sousuke.  _ “This is so embarrassing…” _ He whispers. Sousuke himself just has a small smile on his face, watching as Makoto fiddles about with the duvet. Makoto regains himself for a moment before clearing his throat and carrying on. “But, as we got to know each other a little more, and we started our practice, I realised that you’re not just good looking.”

“What do you mean?” Sousuke cuts in curiously, sitting up again and watching Makoto in deep interest

“I realised, that… You’re mature, and focused.” Makoto notes, nodding with each feature he lists. Sousuke’s eyes widen. “And you seem to do a lot for Rin’s sake.” Makoto laughs a little. He’s finding this slightly more easier, now that Sousuke seems to be listening. He smiles down at Sousuke’s shadow on the duvet. “So surely you must be caring… I know you are. You and I didn’t even know each other well when we first started our practice. But you helped me out, in more ways than one.” 

Sousuke looks down at himself again. Even he didn’t realise this.

“More ways..?” He says softly, tilting his head a little. He can’t help but feel a little weird again as he watches Makoto.

“You helped me to sing. I couldn’t even sing before our first practice. Or what I’m saying is, I was always too afraid.” Makoto admits, keeping the tone gentle, as he looks over Sousuke’s legs, making his way up to his face. He looks back at him, also keeping the tone.

“Afraid… of singing?” Sousuke repeats.

“Yeah…” Makoto nods. “My mom had to speak to my piano tutor in private whenever I had to do any singing. I just about had the confidence to play my keyboard in front of them.” He continues, looking away again at the pillow next to Sousuke. “So when you asked me to sing by myself, I was so scared…”

Sousuke honestly can’t believe what he’s hearing. So… Makoto always had a fear of performing? And he’s minimally helped him to overcome that? Well, he’s still a little shaky at practise, but not like that. He can’t really formally admit to feeling bad for forcing it upon him now.

“Wow..” Sousuke comments in genuine shock, blinking up at Makoto.

“Yeah.” Makoto smiles softly. “When I told my mom I was the singer of the band, she and my dad were so happy.” He says, just above a whisper. Sousuke can’t help but feel a little proud of himself, and Makoto for that. “The twins weren’t exactly happy at first, but that was only because I didn’t sing for them-”

“Wait, twins? You’re a triplet?” Sousuke says suddenly, throwing off the whole calm atmosphere. Makoto looks back at him wide eyed before letting out a small laugh.

“No, I don’t think I told you.” Makoto beams still. “I have a little brother and sister, they’re twins.” He laughs again when Sousuke lets out a little sigh of relief.

“I was going to say… I couldn’t imagine three of you.” Sousuke says, even with a small smile himself.

“Do you have any siblings, Sousuke?” Makoto asks now that he has the chance. Sousuke shakes his head.

“Nah. Just me.” Sousuke shakes his head. Makoto was kind of expecting that. He doesn’t know exactly what it is, but he just gets those kind of single-child vibes from Sousuke.

“Oh.” Makoto replies, thinking of something to say. “Haru’s an only child, too.” He adds.

“Nanase.. He lives on his own too, right?” Sousuke asks, surprising Makoto a little bit. He kinda forgot that Sousuke and Haruka are still on surname-basis. It’s a little odd if he thinks about it.

“Yeah. Usually me and Rin will go over and keep him company often.” Makoto replies, nodding slowly. Sousuke does, too, until it’s quiet again. Maybe Haruka isn’t the best topic right now.

“So… The twins. They’re into music too?” Sousuke asks after a moment, eliciting a small smile from Makoto as he shakes his head, indicating that they aren’t.

“Not really. They joined their school’s swim club this term.” He starts. “And my dad always insists that I listen to my music with my earphones plugged in.”

“Huh? Why?” Sousuke tilts his head at him again. That’s a bit of a peculiar request.

“Well… He says that metal isn’t exactly a good influence on the twins for some reason. That, and it scares my little brother.” Makoto admits, feeling a little bad. It makes Sousuke laugh though.

“I still can’t believe you’re a metal guy.” Sousuke laughs it off, making Makoto blush a little. “It’s not bad, I just really didn’t expect that from someone like you. I expected you to say something like pop or, something like those indie bands or some shit.” 

“What genre of music do you like, Sousuke?” Makoto suddenly decides to ask, seeing that Sousuke hasn’t shown or displayed anything that he likes, apart from that one time that he pointed something out on Haruka’s MP3 player.

“Well… I usually have rock music on my playlists. To be fair, I have quite a few genres, but that’s my most listened too, I guess. I like their vocal style. It isn’t overdone and it’s refreshing.” Sousuke says, though Makoto wasn’t expecting him to say that much. It makes him smile. He’s glad Sousuke seems to be opening up to him a little more.

“You focus on vocal styles, huh.” Makoto comments subtly. Sousuke nods. “How long have you been singing for?” He asks, with a small need to know. Sousuke looks up at him a little wide eyed.

“I can’t exactly pinpoint the exact time, but ever since I was little. My dad always used to tell me to keep quiet, though. That’s why Rin and I are so close. His family was all about the music business, and I guess I loved that when I was younger.” Sousuke says wistfully, though he smiles fondly at the memory. “I dunno if he told you, but we always used to act like musicians together. He’d play his guitar, and I’d sing. Sometimes he’d join in. He isn’t bad at singing.” 

“I’ve heard him a few times.” Makoto nods as he listens to Sousuke’s little story. It’s really interesting, and lovely now that he knows why they were so close. It’s cute. 

But now it’s his turn to wonder. Sousuke seems to be opening up to him, slowly. He’s still a little clueless about some parts to Sousuke, and he wants to know more. But he won’t let him get any closer.

“Sousuke.” Makoto says in a different tone. Sousuke himself looks over to Makoto a little dazed. He blinks at him as he waits for a response. “Tell me, how you feel about me.”

Sousuke is silent again as his brows furrow slightly. He knew that this would put Sousuke off a little. It might even ruin their night, but Makoto desperately wants to know, and he won’t go home without an answer, or a vision of how Sousuke feels.

“That’s the thing.” Sousuke states. This time it’s Makoto’s turn to widen his eyes. The thing? What does he mean? Sousuke is quiet for another couple of seconds, before opening his mouth again. “I don’t know…”

So… He doesn’t know what he feels towards him? Maybe he’s in the state of confusion. What if the whole time he’s actually liked Makoto, too, and he just hasn’t known how to address it properly? But… He told Makoto he was straight. Makoto frowns at him a little as he waits for him to continue.

“You don’t know?” Makoto says quietly. Sousuke shakes his head without a word, a little child-like. His eyebrows knit together again as he looks down at himself. 

“I feel… Kinda weird when I look at you sometimes. Or when you do certain things.” He says, refusing completely to meet Makoto’s eye. This time, it’s Sousuke’s turn to feel the embarrassment. It’s cute, and not just because of the towel on his head this time.

Makoto gets the sudden bravery shuffle down towards the other side of the bed where Sousuke sits. He sits besides him, laying back against the pillows himself.

“Weird?” Makoto repeats. In all fairness, he’s completely surprised at Sousuke’s sudden turn of feelings. He was not expecting this  _ at all.  _ He was so used to Sousuke’s stand-offish responses and little jokes, that he wouldn’t expect him to all of a sudden have a change of perspective.

“Like… I dunno.” Sousuke shrugs, still not looking at Makoto. His frown deepens. “I don’t wanna talk about it.” He mutters under his breath.

Makoto isn’t accepting that. He can’t start off telling him that there’s a possibility, and then just leave him hanging. But before he starts getting ahead of himself and getting a little excited, he has to remember that Sousuke’s personal space is in play here.

But still. Makoto makes it his mission to get an answer from him before this night is over.

He looks over Sousuke again for a moment, as he finally looks back up at him, seeing that he hasn’t given Sousuke an answer. He looks very annoyed. But something tells Makoto that Sousuke’s more annoyed at himself then at he is at him.

It takes Makoto a little moment to come up with an idea. Before he goes ahead with it, he looks over to where the moonlight shines, a perfect square on the floor. 

“What are you smirking about?” Sousuke asks him, a little put off by Makoto’s expression. Makoto realises this, and looks back to Sousuke with a soft expression again.

“Hey, Sousuke. Did you ever make forts when you were younger?” Makoto asks him, with a playful expression. Sousuke is a little thrown off, raising an eyebrow at him.

“...No?” He replies, utterly confused. Makoto lets out a small giggle and stands up from the bed.

“Come on. Let’s make one.” He says happily, looking down at Sousuke who looks back at him, now completely unamused.

“I’m not a little kid, Makoto. Do you do this with your siblings?” He asks, staying put on the bed. Makoto frowns at him.

“Well, sometimes. But it’s good for relaxing, too.” Makoto replies, in some sort of small beg. He looks down at Sousuke with a small pout, seeing something small in his eye.

With a sigh, Sousuke shakes his head. Though, he places his palms at the edge of the bed and moves to stand up on the other side of the bed. He turns to face him, straight laced. 

“Fine, we’ll make your stupid fort.” He grumbles, but it puts a smile on Makoto’s face nonetheless. 

“It’s not stupid Sousuke, it’s actually fun.” Makoto defends his little idea, smiling at Sousuke one more time before tugging the duvet off of his bed completely, leaving Sousuke a little speechless as he walks across the room, and lays out the duvet directly under the moonlight.

“What are you doing?” Sousuke asks, a little louder. He stands, dumbfounded as he watches Makoto takes all of his pillows from the bed, leaving it bare, and dumping them on top of the duvet. 

“Making our fort. Well, it’s not exactly a fort, but it’s close enough. Come on.” Makoto replies simply, as if nothing just happened. He sits down on the duvet, propping up some pillows and sitting back against them. Then, he looks up at the view from Sousuke’s window, which is a lot smaller, since Makoto’s window is actually his balcony door, but it’s still a good view. It’s perfect.

Sousuke stands and watches him again, before shaking his head at him, and moving to join him. He sits down besides Makoto a little awkwardly, also propping up some pillows for himself. He’s about to comment on how this isn’t actually that uncomfortable, before he sees Makoto’s reasoning for all of this out of the window.

Makoto turns and smiles warmly at Sousuke’s expression. Wonder. He’s glad to see the moon reflecting in his eyes again. 

“I told you earlier, just simply looking out of my window helps me to clear my mind. It’s cliche. This whole thing is cliche,” He pauses to let out a small laugh. “But, I think it’s helpful.” 

“...Yeah.” Sousuke mutters mindlessly, obviously a little lost under the moon’s soft lighting. Makoto can’t rid of the smile on his face as he watches him, before looking up out of the window himself.

It’s calming, and a little unreal that he’s actually sat here doing this with Sousuke right now. He wouldn’t change it, though. Sousuke’s breathing is soft besides him, like the beat of a slow song. One that loses you in the bliss of it all.

“I think I like you.” Sousuke says suddenly.

Makoto’s eyes widen so quickly he’s afraid that they’ll fly out of his head. He turns quickly to look back at Sousuke for any answers. Sousuke himself is still looking out of the window, but he suddenly looks down at himself.

“But… I’m not gay.” He says, sounding a little… Hurt? Makoto frowns at him gently. “I… I don’t usually like guys. I’ve never liked a guy before. You’re different.” He begins. Makoto listens to him patiently, acceptingly. “You’re genuinely a nice guy, and you’re good to me. You clearly look out for people, and you can teach me a thing or two about not being an asshole.” That line makes Makoto smile again. Everything he’s saying makes Makoto smile again. It’s clear he wants to word this differently, but Sousuke has his personal space, yet again. “And… You’re cute.” He adds shyly.

“Thank you..” Makoto replies, happily. Sousuke finally lifts his head and looks at him again. He still looks hurt, and Makoto hasn’t a clue why.

“I still like girls, though.” Sousuke adds, but that doesn’t upset Makoto. Sousuke thinks it should. “And that’s what angers me. You’re not a girl, and I like girls. Boobs are cool.”

That last utterance makes Makoto laugh out loud. He lifts a hand quickly to cover his mouth, and he doesn’t even think about apologizing when Sousuke glares at him.

“I understand you Sousuke,” Makoto calms down a little, looking at him with a cheerful grin. “But all of my friends are straight, and I’ve never heard any of them say that before.” He giggles, watching as Sousuke’s cheeks turn a faint pink. He looks so cute like that, as well as the towel that is  _ still _ on his head.

“Well, you haven’t asked them…” Sousuke growls in self defence. He thinks for a moment before realising something. “What do you mean, you understand me?” He asks, hoping that Makoto will stop giggling.

“Maybe you’re bisexual.” Makoto suggests, putting an even further confused look on Sousuke’s ever blushing face. “You like both girls and boys.” He speaks slowly, making sure Sousuke understands him. It’s a little odd, seeing as he doesn’t understand that well.

“I dunno… I don’t want to come to any conclusions yet.” Sousuke sighs out a little, obviously feeling a little frustrated. This is how Makoto felt when he was first coming out to himself. “How did you come to terms with being gay?” He asks him, as if he were reading his mind. 

“I felt just like you did. Frustrated and confused. I didn’t understand at first because I thought that I was meant to find a nice girl, and marry her, like my parents, but I didn’t want to do that. I just… Didn’t find girls attractive anymore. Sometimes I looked at guys and I thought about them, more than I should have. I found them attractive.” Makoto explains, knowing fully well that Sousuke is listening intensively besides him. “And it stayed that way. I was angry at myself, because I didn’t think it was natural. I had to teach myself that it was. It was hard, but  now I’m happy, because I’ve accepted myself.” Makoto finishes, smiling to himself. Sure, he could go into a lot more detail, but he doesn’t want to bore Sousuke to sleep. 

He’s never talked to anybody about it, so he is so glad that he can now. He would love nothing more than to have Sousuke as his boyfriend, but Sousuke needs to accept himself first before he can decide on anything.

Sousuke stares at him again, a little wondrously. He nods quietly, before looking away again, back out at the stars and skies above. Makoto blinks at him endlessly, then turns and does the same.

He prays to the Gods above them to give him just one chance.

“Makoto.” Sousuke speaks up after a little while. Makoto looks over at him again, gently.

“Yes?”

“Can I…” He begins, suddenly feeling a little nervous. Makoto glances up to him with those innocent, pure green eyes of his. “Can I kiss you?”

Those eyes widen for a moment, before crinkling like they always do. Makoto nods softly, giving him permission.

Sousuke shuffles closer on their little attempt of a fort, putting an arm behind Makoto’s back, and leaning down towards him. As Makoto closes his eyes, Sousuke thinks about things once more. He thinks about the conversation that just took place, knowing that he hasn’t fully decided on anything yet. He thinks about how he shouldn’t be doing this. And then, he thinks about his father, and all of the things he said, knowing that he would be dead right now if he saw him. He closes his eyes, and before he places his lips to Makoto’s for a fourth time, he thinks of a simple reply to everything:

Fuck it.

And when their lips touch, Sousuke can still taste the faint cola on Makoto’s lips. His lips are soft, and sweet. Just like him. A sudden surge comes across him at the thought. He draws Makoto closer when he feels his arms around his neck, their lips moving slow.

He doesn’t even care anymore when he feels Makoto’s hand crawling up the back of his neck, reaching under the towel and untying it. It falls from around his head to around his neck, keeping him warm. 

They’re both a little lost in each other’s hold as the night sky showers over them. Makoto feels Sousuke’s slightly damp hair against his own, and smiles against his lips again. He knows that he said hours earlier that he doesn’t want any more kisses, but this could be the one. He does feel bad, knowing that this might annoy Sousuke even more with how he's feeling. But in the back of his head, he's hoping it helps him to realise something.

And when he pulls away, his eyes almost fall out of his head again. 

Sousuke blushes lightly again, looking away at Chouko who has decided to appear again seeing as Makoto has changed their room around a little. She settles down on the duvet besides them. Makoto looks over Sousuke in complete awe. 

The last thing he was expecting when the towel fell, was soft, luscious curls, framing Sousuke’s face. And they really,  _ really _ suit him. Again, it’s cliche, but Makoto would stare at them forever. He wants to touch them, but he knows Sousuke would get mad. In the pale blue moonlight, he looks beautiful. Makoto smiles brightly at him, knowing fully that Sousuke is aware he knows now. 

“Shut up…” Sousuke mutters under his breath, still looking away. Makoto smirks at him, before doing just that, leaning up for another chaste kiss. 

Sousuke lets him have it, a little surprised that Chouko isn’t barking at them this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [i drew curly sousuke and wanted to share his gay ass with all of you](http://karumello.tumblr.com/post/152403933447/someone-share-my-curly-hair-sousuke-headcanon-with)
> 
> tH ERE !!! W E GO!! SOU MAOSSKO IS HER E
> 
> yknow what else is here fuckign 5am kill me
> 
> chapter 30 is next im die but not really stay tuned kiddos
> 
> \---
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions regarding this fic and its updates! I love hearing your feedback!
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	30. Morning Glory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morning glory can mean many a thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo !!
> 
> has it been a while? yes. do i feel bad? incredibly. i rewrote this chapter four times. will this chapter make up for that? that's down to you.
> 
> ;))))))
> 
> // thanks to those who are patient with me. may i also take this moment to thank those who have been commenting! i love you !! and i hope you can forgive me.

The following morning, Makoto is awoke by the wide beams of the rising sun. He begrudgingly opens his eyes, looking out of the window, though he doesn’t want to wake up just yet. He’d like to relish in the moment of being in the same bed as Sousuke a little longer.

Makoto sighs happily, quietly, as he sinks his head back into thick pillows. The sunlight turns the walls a happy yellow colour, which is exactly how he’s feeling right now. He truly is happy. And even though he might not have gotten a straight up confirmation from Sousuke, he’s truly happy that he’s willing to admit his feelings. Maybe one day his feelings will be crystal clear.

He goes about closing his eyes, enjoying a little lie in, allowing the warm light to carry him back off to sleep. He dreams about this becoming a regular thing.

What he _isn’t_ expecting, is a warm, strong arm to suddenly come across his chest. Makoto’s eyes widen instantly. Is that Sousuke’s arm holding him in place? More importantly, _is that Sousuke’s chest pressed up against his back?_ They didn’t speak about it, but they ended up sleeping on opposite sides of the bed last night. So… Why has Sousuke moved over towards his side? Makoto silently prays to himself that it’s just something he’s managed to do in his sleep.

Not like he’s complaining. In fact, why is he trying to figure out this instead of living in the moment? There’s a 50/50 chance that this might be the last time this happens. Well, it’s more of an 80/20 chance. What Sousuke was saying last night did seem a little… sweet. And he did say that he thought he liked him.

Again, he smiles brighter to himself as he closes his eyes slowly. Unashamedly, he tucks himself in a little, and snuggles back into his hold. If it wakes Sousuke up, he’ll blame it on his instincts when he properly wakes up.

But Sousuke doesn’t wake up. Instead, Makoto feels him, hooking his legs under his own, practically clinging to him. Makoto then feels his own cheeks starting to heat up. He never ever once took Sousuke for the clingy type, and he doesn’t hate it. If he could wake up every morning like this, he wouldn’t be mad.

It's silent, comfortingly silent. This is how it feels to be in Sousuke’s arms… He’s warm, and comfortable, and makes him feel all fuzzy inside. He’s happy, and he knows that it won’t last long for when Sousuke probably wakes up in a sweating panic.   
  
Makoto is finally about to enjoy his last minutes of heaven, but now something firm pressing into the small of his back suddenly prevents him from closing his eyes again. Makoto’s eyes stay wide as he tries to figure out their current situation. Part of him thinks that it’s just a fold in the duvet, and part of him thinks that Chouko snuck between them in the middle of the night. Then again, Chouko would be crushed, and the duvet is quite soft. There’s only one more thing he can think of. _He isn’t…_

Makoto’s eyes can’t widen any further, so his mouth has to do the job when he feels his innocent thoughts turning to dust, and Sousuke’s hips _grinding_ into his lower half. For a moment, Makoto believes it’s just Sousuke trying to get comfortable, that this is just an innocent little move, but then his arm around Makoto’s chest draws him in closer, and that hardness makes itself more prominent as it _really_ presses into him, thin fabrics separating them. He’s stunned for any words, and he can’t even think of anything to say even if he could form words right now.

The realisation that Sousuke is genuinely _humping_ him in his sleep slips past his mind as the only thing that Makoto can actually process in his mind is that he’s _so big._ His hands clutch at the sheet besides him, and his teeth dig into his bottom lip as he closes his eyes tight, fighting off any feelings in his body. The last thing he wants to happen is for him to suddenly get horny from this. Though, he can’t say much for Sousuke.

Makoto tries to fight off his young lust, but it becomes a challenge as Sousuke tucks his nose behind Makoto’s ear, breathing hotly, tickling the hair on Makoto’s skin. Makoto’s eyes peel back open slowly, squinting into the walls, his teeth digging harder into his lip.

He wants this, badly. More than he ever thought he would. So much for their innocent night.

His cheeks are bright pink as he looks away, eyes opening properly. His grip on the sheets loosen, to a point where he’s not even holding onto them anymore, submitting himself to Sousuke’s dazed needs.

He tilts his head back slightly with a soft breath of fresh air, and rolls his hips back into Sousuke’s, grinding softly onto his erection. He knows that he’s taking a serious risk here, because if Sousuke wakes up, he’s going to be killed for this. But he can’t help it, he just feels so good right now…

“Mmmn…” Sousuke hums lowly into his ear, half turning Makoto on, and half scaring him. Was that him waking up, or responding to Makoto’s movements? Makoto himself is a little reluctant to turn his head around, but he doesn’t stop his hips from moving.

Sousuke’s hand slowly moves down Makoto’s body, playing with the hem of his shirt, before lifting it up, and sliding under. His hand is feverish to the touch, and his fingers tantalize Makoto’s abs, in turn making him let out another soft breath. Sousuke moves his hand slowly up his torso again, moving to explore his chest.

Finally, Makoto tilts his head back again, still rolling his hips, turning his head to look over at Sousuke behind him, expecting him to be sleeping.

Sousuke’s eyes are open. They’re half-lidded, covered in a layer of lust, and looking right back at him. He gives Makoto a sultry look as he hikes his thighs up a little higher, getting a better leverage and thrusting his hips upwards again. That look along with his soft curls shading his face perfectly could be enough to get Makoto off right here, right now.

 _This is crazy._ Sousuke told him last night he was confused with his sexuality and all, and that his feelings for Makoto weren’t all the way there yet, and yet here they are. Is this what confusion and frustration always lead to?

Makoto looks back into his eyes desperately, knowing what he wants to tell him now that they’re both aware of what they’ve gotten into. He wants to tell Sousuke to be a little rough, go a little faster, just _rip his clothes off_ and have his dirty way with him, but his mouth can’t find the strength to form any of those words. All he can do is breathe heavily, messily, in and out of time with Sousuke’s breathing.

The two stay like that, just moving in time with each other’s bodies. Makoto feels his blood rushing south as his shirt rides up his chest, slowly being peeled off of him, his burning skin finally being bared to the godly morning sun, his breathing becoming erratic now as their skin comes into contact. Sousuke must have taken off his shirt during the middle of the night.

Now all that’s constricting them from making their morning one to remember is their clothed lower halves, which is where Sousuke’s hand travels to next. Makoto moans softly as his fingers trail over his body again, teasingly. They make their way underneath Makoto’s pyjama pants easily, still trailing down over the material of his boxers. Makoto gasps quietly when Sousuke’s hand gropes his ass firmly. Makoto wants him to do it again, harder. Maybe even spank him a little. He’ll beg him if he has to. He doesn’t even consider taking time to think about what even made him like this, still, he can’t open his mouth to say anything.

He looks back at Sousuke again, seeing him still with that sultry look, his hair is a little damp now, and it masks his eyes so sexually. Makoto feels himself hardening just looking at him. Sousuke’s mouth opens, like he’s about to say something, finally. Makoto desperately wants to know what it is. He leans a little closer if that’s possible, feeling a little needy for his voice.

 _Smash!_ The sound of something colliding in the distance electrifies Makoto’s body back to life. He sits up suddenly, feeling his heart jumping around in his chest.

 _“Chouko!”_ A familiar voice that he was yearning to hear just moments ago yells. It sounds kinda distant. Did he just run out to her?

Makoto turns around quickly, finding the space besides him empty. He blinks slowly, before reaching out his hand and patting the space besides him. It’s cold. There’s no way that was a dream… Right?

Footsteps that draw near to him hurry him to cover himself up, especially since he can feel something straining against his pyjama pants. This can’t be happening. Not right now.

“Oh, you’re up.” Sousuke voices as he appears in the door frame. Makoto can’t help but break a sweat at the fact that yes, he is up, _now in more ways than one._ He kinda feels like Sousuke just pointed that out. Makoto shuffles around awkwardly underneath the blanket.

“Yeah… Good morning, Sousuke.” Makoto replies as casually as he can, making sure the blanket is covering his lower half entirely. He gives Sousuke a closed-eye smile, because if he even dares look at him he feels something might happen.

“I dunno if you like eating soup from a plate, but Chouko just broke the only other bowl I had.” Sousuke grumbles, glowering at his dog that looks back up at him innocently.

“It’s fine. Surely there’s something else you’ll have…” Makoto says, hinting at Sousuke to just _hurry up_ and leave the room. Yes, he’ll eat his soup from whatever Sousuke can find, he just needs to be alone right now. They can’t be in the same room when Makoto is innocently donning a hard on. Thinking about it makes him want to cry.

“Right…It’ll be done in a minute. Come out to the living room.” Sousuke replies a little oddly. He looks at him suspiciously, lowering his eyebrows at him before turning away, heading back towards the kitchen to plate up their breakfast. Huh. Makoto seemed a little reluctant to talk to him. He guesses Makoto isn’t much of a talker when he’s just awoken.

Back in Sousuke’s room, Makoto sits up straight in a panic, hands pushing at his lower half. Oh God. What is he going to do? He told himself last night this was going to happen. He can’t just stay in here and wait it out, Sousuke is out in the kitchen, preparing their breakfast which is going to be ready _any minute now_. Damnit. Why does he have to have those stupid dreams? Especially right now?

Stupid hormones. Why do they have to act up when he’s literally _meters_ away from Sousuke? Still… He had no idea he had this much libido in him. In that dream he was _completely_ giving himself to Sousuke. He wonders… Will he be like this when it comes to real life? No. He can’t ask those things. It might not even happen. Sousuke isn’t even too sure about his sexuality, let alone his sex drive.

Makoto’s panic inflates as he realises there’s literally nothing he can do about his situation. He can’t take care of it, nor can he let it go on it’s own. There’s nowhere he could take care of it, and doing it in the bathroom would be far too obvious for Sousuke to realise what he’s doing in there. Plus, Sousuke expects him in the living room _right now_. There isn’t even a mirror in the room for Makoto to examine himself.

Holding his breath, Makoto lifts up the quilt, and then the waistband of his pyjama pants. Fair to say, he’s at about a semi. Just a little more than that. With a quiet groan, he lets go, allowing the fabric to snap back against his skin and make him jump a little more. He looks off towards the direction of the door before finally standing up from the bed, fixing the sheets, and walking towards the door. It’s more of a challenge than it usually is.

As he walks out towards the living area, he hears Sousuke in the kitchen, feeding his dog. Makoto pulls at the hem of his shirt so that it covers his morning visitor. He walks over towards the couch hurriedly, thinking of things other than Sousuke to distract himself though he knows they won’t last for long. He thinks of school work, his keyboard, the band, Haruka, Rin, their performance, his voice, Chouko, Sou-. Damnit, he’s back at Sousuke again. Makoto’s brows furrow as he glares into the dark wood of Sousuke’s coffee table, thinking again. Now that he thinks about it, Sousuke’s apartment isn’t a traditional Japanese house… It’s more modern than anything. He wonders if Sousuke prefers that. No. Stop thinking about him, or else-

“Makoto?” Sousuke asks with an eyebrow raised, carrying out a tray that holds a bowl of steaming miso soup. The light coming from the window behind him gives him the exact same glow he had in Makoto’s dream. He presses his legs together a little harder.

“Yes?” Makoto quickly snaps his head up, looking over at Sousuke, who’s hair is now straight. He must have straightened it out this morning. Fair to say, Makoto is grateful. He thought Sousuke looked super _hot_ last with his curled hair. Sousuke blinks at Makoto oddly again as he lowers the tray to him. “Thank you.” Makoto comments quietly, happy that he has something to cover himself up with. His eyes widen as he takes in the scent of the food that Sousuke has made for him. “I had no idea you could cook, Sousuke…”

“Duh. I live on my own, I can’t just rely on microwave meals and pizza for the rest of my life.” Sousuke replies, padding back out to the kitchen to retrieve his own breakfast, which sits in a plastic tupperware bowl. Sousuke himself still wears his nightwear from the night before. “I didn’t even ask you if you like this soup. If you don’t want it I guess I can-”

“No, I love miso soup.” Makoto brushes him off, cutting in quickly now that the warmth from the tray meets his arousal. This isn’t good. Sousuke nods slowly as he takes a seat _thankfully_ on the opposite side of the couch, setting his tray down on his lap and digging straight in. Makoto in turn does the same, picking up his chopsticks and digging out one of the tofu pieces, and popping it into his mouth. The flavour is so rich, and just from this one piece, he knows the rest of the soup is going to be so tasty. “Wow... “ Makoto mutters after chewing and swallowing.

“It’s just soup.” Sousuke looks away. In his head, he tries to think of something to start their morning conversation. “Can’t you cook?”  
  
“Ah… Haha.” Makoto laughs quietly, looking away with a small nervous smile. Though, he’s laughing for two reasons; One, he genuinely cannot cook whatsoever, and two, the heat from the tray pressing against him isn’t helping _at all_.

“I take that as a no, then?” Sousuke smirks from the opposite side of the room. Makoto groans in response, gaining a small huff from Sousuke.

It’s a little silent from then on, as the two go about eating their breakfast. Chouko’s toy, Mr Fluffles, squeaks as she plays with it beneath Sousuke’s feet. It’s actually slightly awkward on both ends, as little does Makoto know, Sousuke had the exact same start to his morning.

Sousuke awoke this morning in a cold sweat, after he finished dreaming about sweet, innocent kisses with the boy that lay beside him this morning. He dreamt of holding his soft jaw in his hands, pressing their noses together and capturing his cola-flavoured lips between his own, drinking in his sweet taste as they bathed in the pale moonlight, all night until sunrise. It was really romantic. And Sousuke isn’t a romance guy. At all. He doesn’t want to say that he’s got a slight addiction, as it’s still a little early to call it that, but…he couldn’t stop. Are all first kisses that addictive?

“This is really good.” Makoto smiles as he eats, seemingly half-way through his food. He licks his lips after every bite almost, feeling bad for thinking that this is almost as good as Haru’s cooking, let alone his mother’s. And this is just soup.

Makoto then notices that Sousuke is a little quiet. Now it’s really awkward, as well as his little problem. _Oh no_. What if Sousuke got up early because he noticed that he was aroused? What if he just wanted to escape into the kitchen?

“You’re blushing.” Sousuke points out, looking over at him. “Is it really that good?” He chuckles.

Makoto feels himself heating up even more now that Sousuke is aware. He blinks quickly, shuffling his legs a little underneath the tray.

“I was just saying… And it’s hot.” Makoto mutters, looking away, back at his blushing reflection in his soup.

"Last night," Sousuke begins after another short silence, putting his chopsticks down for a moment. Makoto lifts his head, also taking a pause from his meal. He blinks up at Sousuke innocently, waiting for him to continue. Sousuke inhales deeply, looking down at his own reflection, before he does. "I was thinking again. I didn't have my book with me, so I couldn't write. But I thought of something..."  
  
Makoto has to take a moment to just take in the fact that Sousuke seems to be opening up towards him a little more recently. If they wouldn't have went through this, he wouldn't even be sat here right now. It makes him feel good. Makoto smiles warmly at Sousuke, still clenching his thighs together under the tray, as he again waits patiently for him to speak.

“I…” He turns his head for a moment, closing his eyes before looking back over at Makoto, his expression is soft, but serious. “I want to know you a little more.” Sousuke nods, seemingly not taking no for an answer. Not like Makoto was going to say no anyway…

“Of course.” Makoto replies happily. “I thin-”

“No,” Sousuke interrupts him, looking away again for a moment. He looks a little embarrassed. _That makes two of them._ “I meant, I…” He stumbles through his words. It’s cute. Makoto gains a small smile. “I want to take you out.”

Makoto’s eyes widen slightly, as does his mouth. Does he mean… Out on a _date?_ He blinks at Sousuke who doesn’t take his eyes off of him, thinking of a suitable reply.

“Sure. I’d like that.” Makoto nods, regaining his small smile. Date or not, Sousuke’s wanting to know him more, which is exactly what he wants. Maybe then, he would make his mind up on whether he definitely likes him.

“I was thinking, maybe after the show?” Sousuke asks, a little shyly. This time, he looks back at his food, picking at it slowly as he waits for a reply.

Makoto’s smile turns to a small frown. Sure, he’d love to go then, but he knows that the band will probably all want to celebrate together after the show, and it would be pretty rude to say no to them. Then again, Sousuke will probably be invited too. Speaking of which, they haven’t even planned anything for that. He’ll bring it up tomorrow at practice.

“Makoto.” Sousuke calls, reminding Makoto that he’s been asked a question.

“Oh, sorry. I was thinking. I’m pretty sure the band will want to celebrate after the show, right? And you’ll be a part of that, too.” Makoto nods. Maybe they can take the time then to get to know each other. “That’s better, don’t you think?”  
  
“No.” Sousuke replies curtly, his eyebrows lowering slightly as he turns to look back at the other boy. “I want it to just be the two of us.” He states, looking into Makoto’s pure green eyes as they widen with a tiny sparkle. “So… The day after, then. What do you say?”

Makoto nods at him, placing his elbows on the tray and pushing it further down on himself as he feels himself getting a little excited again.

Sousuke continues to glance over at Makoto as he shuffles about. He can’t even deny himself that he looks so cute right now. Sousuke decides that he likes seeing Makoto all flustered. He clears his throat, making sure Makoto isn’t currently chewing anything.

“I thought about something else last night, too.” Sousuke speaks in a different tone, now. It sounds a little suggestive, if Makoto has to say anything. He presses his elbows down on the tray harder, feeling the soup bowl move a little closer towards him. Sousuke chuckles. “You have a pretty big ass for a guy.” He comments casually, picking up a couple pieces of spring onion and eating them happily as he takes in Makoto’s quiet gasp.

 _“S-Sousuke!”_ Makoto cries out. He honestly _can’t believe_ he just heard him say that. Whilst yes, that did satisfy him, and Sousuke has the right to tease him, now just isn’t the _right time._ He looks up at Sousuke with a small glare, though he can’t help but feel himself practically turning red. “Y-you were looking?”

“It was hard not to look when you were almost stark naked in this room last night.” Sousuke replies quickly with another smirk, eating more of his soup. Makoto can’t call him out on it right now, as he can’t find the words to spout back at him. He blinks a couple more times as he processes the thought further. _Sousuke was openly looking at his behind… Maybe he’s into that._

Makoto panics when he feels his lower half twitch again. _Oh no._ He has to get this to stop.

“I-I’d rather not talk about my, butt…” Makoto mutters, looking back at his soup, picking out a piece of seaweed and and eating it quickly, trying to allow himself to be distracted by the intense flavours in his mouth, but it’s not working.

“Can’t even bring yourself to say ‘ass’?” Sousuke laughs lightly again. His laugh is blissful, weirdly enough. “Don’t you swear, Makoto?”

“No. I have to be a good role model for my little brother and sister, so I can’t. My parents don’t swear either. I guess it’s just the way I’ve been brought up.” Makoto replies, finding the courage to speak a little more in his situation. It looks like they’re changing the topic, so now wouldn’t be a bad time to speak up.

“Oh. My parents don’t swear either. I guess I just adapted it when they started pissing me off.” He laughs to himself, eliciting a surprised look from Makoto. His parents caused him to swear? He wonders what they could have possibly done. Makoto watches closely as Sousuke lifts the bowl to his lips, drinking in the rest of his soup, watching his adam’s apple bob in time.

“Surely they didn’t want you to… Don’t you think about that?” Makoto asks curiously, watching as Sousuke looks a little surprised himself a little.

“They’re just words, Makoto…” Sousuke replies, placing his now empty bowl back down onto the tray. “What? Are they a turn off for you?”

“No,” Makoto shakes his head a little too quickly in reply. Before he can say anything in reply, Sousuke is first to open his mouth again.

“So they’re turn ons?” He smirks at him, speaking in that husky voice. Makoto can literally feel himself shrivelling up inside.

“S-stop it!” Makoto barks back at him, making him laugh again.

“Can’t help it.” Sousuke says, shrugging and _still_ wearing that smirk. Makoto wishes it would go away. “I’m just getting to know you a little better.”

\---

Once Makoto is finished eating every last bit of his breakfast, Sousuke opts to take his tray out for him. Makoto’s a little frightened when he hands the tray to Sousuke, scared of what he might be revealing underneath the tray, but Sousuke doesn’t see or say anything. As Sousuke washes up in the kitchen, Makoto takes this opportunity to get changed back into his normal clothes. He takes his bag and wanders back out into Sousuke’s bathroom.

Sousuke calls out to him that he can use the shower, much to Makoto’s happiness.

There aren’t any windows in Sousuke’s bathroom, but there’s an air vent. Makoto switches on the light, revealing what appears to be just a simple bathroom. The walls are still the exact same colour as every other room apart from the cream coloured tiles of the shower wall, and the floors are tiled, too. There’s only a shower, and no bath tub. That must be kind of annoying sometimes, not being able to just relax in the bath…With that thought in mind, Makoto hurriedly turns on the shower, and sheds off his clothes. Which do in fact reveal his now fully-blown erection.

He sighs as he hops into the shower, not bothering to close the shower curtain, standing directly under the hot spray. He hangs his head low in shame, allowing his hair to become wet as he thinks about his current situation. They were having such an innocent night last night, coming to terms with their relationship, if that’s what they want to call it, and now he’s awoken a horny mess the next day. Makoto sighs softly, leaning back against cold tile wall as he continues to think, listening to the sounds of the water running.

Then there’s the sound of a hum. Makoto looks up at the showerhead for a moment, thinking that it’s coming from there, but then again, the water’s just fine. In thought, he tilts his head back against the wall, catching a louder hum. His eyes widen.

 _“Someone tell me I’m dreaming,_ _  
_ _I don’t wanna be the one asking for more,”_

Is that… Sousuke? Makoto lifts his head off of the wall, looking at the tiled walls to his left. The kitchen is behind this wall. That sounded like his voice out there, and not a radio or something like that. Does Sousuke sing as he cleans up? That doesn’t exactly seem like something Sousuke would do… Perhaps he does, and he thinks that Makoto can’t hear him.

 _“I don’t know if I’m lost,  
_ _But all you’ve gotta say is you want it all,”_

Makoto presses his ear towards the wall, and smiles softly to himself as he closes his eyes. That’s definitely Sousuke’s voice singing. He can tell by the mature, melodic tones, with that underlay of angelic softness. It’s so mesmerising. He turns his head back, allowing himself to bask in the warmth of the steaming water, and Sousuke’s voice. He doesn’t think he’s head this song before. Maybe it’s one he wrote…

 _“Tell me your desires,_ _  
_ _And I’ll bag them up as best as I can,”_

He tilts his head back into the water, wearing a warm smile. Staying in here and listening to Sousuke sing forever sounds like a dream right now. His song is slow, and pure. Makoto makes a mental note of the lyrics, to try and figure out what he means. That, and to look them up later to make sure if they’re Sousuke’s lyrics or not.

 _“I don’t know you all too well,_ _  
_ _But all I know is that I wanna make you my,”_

My? My what? Make you my? Makoto raises an eyebrow at the line. Sousuke looks like a smart guy, so why doesn’t that make any sense? Make you mine would be better, would it not? As Makoto stands bemused beneath the shower, there’s a timed silence before the voice on the other side of the wall continues.

_“Man…”_

Makoto’s eyes widen for what feels like the hundredth time this morning. He replays that last line in his head a million times. _But all I know is that I wanna make you my man._ Does he mean that about _him?_ He laughs softly to himself, hoping so. Gosh… Right now he feels so warm, both outside and inside. He knows that they could just be lyrics from another song, but still. There’s that small flickering light of hope that’s alight inside Makoto, refusing to be put out.

As Sousuke goes about the rest of the song, a little quieter now for some reason, Makoto decides to make a start on cleaning himself. He takes one of Sousuke’s many body washes that he has, one that’s supposedly mint-scented, and washes himself down with it, lathering over his skin. The touch of his own skin is hot, and makes him pulse a little more down there.

He frowns to himself as he choses to ignore it. If he were at home, he would have definitely helped himself out. But being here, in Sousuke’s home, in Sousuke’s shower, with Sousuke himself literally _on the opposite_ of the wall, he doesn’t want to risk anything.

After washing his hair, Makoto decides to turn the shower water to freezing cold, getting rid of his erection completely. Sousuke seems to have stopped singing, too. He shivers as he blushes, waiting patiently for all evidence to disappear. Makoto looks up, looking over towards the wall facing as he ponders if he even _locked_ the door. But instead, he sees a thin mirror showing his wet reflection. Why does Sousuke even have a mirror there? Does he like eyeing himself up in the shower or something? Makoto chuckles softly at the idea, before looking himself over ironically. As he turns on his side, he does notice that yes, his butt does stick out a little more than the average male does. He looks over his soft curve, admiring it silently. Maybe Sousuke _is_ into that… He shakes his head, laughing again as he turns off the shower, and steps out.

\---

“Dress up?” Sousuke questions, after hearing that that’s where Makoto is now heading off to. He promised the twins he would be home early today to play with them. As Makoto fixes his hair in yet another mirror, Sousuke leans against the wall behind him, dressed too, as he plans on taking Chouko out for a walk after Makoto leaves. “You let them dress you up?”

“I’ve never let them do it before. It’s a new little game they came up with yesterday.” Makoto shrugs, combing over his soft tufts. He’s dressed, and freshened up, ready to leave. “They make me do all kinds of things for them, but it makes them laugh, so it doesn’t bother me.”

Sousuke smirks as he listens to Makoto’s response.

“You do all kinds of things? I have to see this… What kind of things?” Sousuke asks. Makoto can see his face in the reflection of the mirror besides his own. That smirk… It really suits him.

“I’d rather not say..” Makoto leads off with a nervous laugh.

“They’re only your siblings. Surely they can’t make you do anything that bad…” Sousuke urges him to give him an answer. Makoto inwardly groans, before looking away, and putting his comb back into his bag, zipping it up and throwing it over his shoulder.

“Well, sometimes when they’re playing house, they like to make me the dog.” Makoto silently admits. He knows he could have just made something up, but truth be told, he had nothing.

“And you act like a dog? You bark?” Sousuke snickers behind him, encouraging the growing blush on Makoto’s cheeks. “Do you get on your knees, too?”

“Sousuke, stop it! I told you it was embarrassing.” Makoto whines, turning back around to meet Sousuke’s amused face. He laughs again, pushing himself off of the wall, and moving to take Makoto towards the door.

“That I _have_ to see..” Sousuke purrs. The smirk stays on his face as he watches the tip of Makoto’s ears turning red. He goes to make another small comment, but he’s interrupted by his dog, who runs up to Makoto, seeing as he’s leaving.

“I was coming to say goodbye to you too, Chouko.” Makoto smiles, kneeling down and taking his mind off of Sousuke’s small flirtatious comments. He can’t believe that’s the topic he’s leaving Sousuke’s house on. “Thank you for keeping us company, last night. You take care of Sousuke, okay? And don’t go breaking his bowls.”

Sousuke watches in amazed silence as Makoto scratches Chouko’s head. She buries her head under his hand, obviously enjoying his touch. He really is good with her. He watches again as she dashes off, returning a couple seconds holding Mr Fluffles in her mouth. She drops him at Makoto’s feet, and then performs her little happy dance as she waits for him to respond.  
  
Makoto smiles lightly as he takes the toy into his hand, shaking it about, teasing her a little before throwing it across the room. Chouko bolts after it, leaving the two alone again, as Sousuke opens up the door behind him slowly. Makoto turns around, smiling softly at Sousuke as he walks past him, stepping outside.

Sousuke turns in his doorway, looking back at Makoto, mirroring his expression. The two glance at each other like that a little longer, before Makoto’s eyes crinkle happily again. He understands the silence between them, and steps forward.

“Makoto…” Sousuke speaks quietly, looking away. Makoto laughs softly through his nose at how cliche this is. Sousuke looks back up at him, meeting his eye at the small laugh. “Last night, really made me question the way I’ve been looking at this situation.”

“I think it did the same for me, too. Thank you.” Makoto replies, expression almost as soft as his voice as he looks back at Sousuke.

“Right…” Sousuke speaks, keeping the tone quiet. He glances away again for a second before looking at Makoto. Though he isn’t saying anything, Makoto can tell why he isn’t closing the door or saying goodbye just yet.

He shakes his head as he steps closer again. Sousuke’s hand takes its rightful place on Makoto’s jaw, leading him closer. Makoto’s smile widens, as his eyes close.

Their lips meet, neither of them counting the amount of times this has happened anymore. Lips stick together, slide against one another, oh so softly. Oh so perfectly. The silence surrounding them is never awkward, nor cold, as the silence is being covered up. Makoto knows that Sousuke might not have an answer for him right now, but he’s sure that he will, very soon, as he feels it within himself. Both of them have a lot to look forward too from today onwards.

And as Makoto leaves Sousuke's apartment with a quiet goodbye, their hearts beat together, to the sound of something new. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha
> 
> tachiboner
> 
> i waited 30 fucking chapters to crack that joke y'all better be laughing
> 
> i want to take this moment again just to thank those who have been leaving feedback. nothing makes me happier than to see people are appreciating my hard work. thank you so much !!
> 
> \---
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions regarding this fic and its updates! I love hearing your feedback!
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	31. For The Band

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monday can either be the worst day of the week, or the best. Sometimes it's a mixture of the two.
> 
> "karu ur chapter titles suck ass" ikr lmao

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yoo, I hope I didn't keep you all waiting long ;-; 
> 
> I edited this twice and closed the page by accident both times, third time lucky, right?
> 
> Thank you to those who left me a comment last time !! I really appreciate each one, i love you !!
> 
> Please enjoy this one! It's a little favourite of mine.

Unsurprisingly, Chouko takes to Sousuke’s neighbour Tamiko greatly. Apparently, she loves playing with the grandchildren, and she behaves well for her. She doesn't yap as much and she hasn't made any accidents at all. To be honest, Chouko is well toilet trained, anyway. She’s a well behaved dog on a whole, perhaps just a little loud and excitable at times.

Sousuke watches as Chouko happily waddles away into Tamiko’s living room, making herself at home, casually laying down in the middle of the tatami mat set in the middle of the room. She looks over at Sousuke who stands at the other side of the door, wagging her tail lightly.

“She settles right in, not a problem so far.” Tamiko’s happy voice echoes from besides Sousuke, as they both watch the tiny Pomeranian blink cutely at her owner. Sousuke nods quietly in response, before remembering something. 

He pulls his bag up and goes into it, fumbling around a little before his fingers trace over what he was looking for. The second Mr Fluffles is pulled out of the bag, Chouko is back on her feet. Her little run is funny, yet adorable, as she only has little stumpy legs. Her ears perk up as she runs over towards Sousuke, who dangles the toy directly above her head. Tamiko laughs gently from beside them.

“If she starts to pis- _ annoy  _ you, this is her favourite toy. It keeps her quiet for a while.” Sousuke adds, feeling a little embarrassed from almost swearing. He knows that he isn't the politest of people, but there's the obvious respect he has for the elderly. After all, she is taking care of his dog for a few hours, daily. He drops the toy, watching as Chouko immediately picks it up and runs off with it again.

“That should come in handy.” Tamiko chuckles. “She isn’t a problem at all for me, though she can be very, jumpy, and excitable at times.” She continues, still smiling as she looks up to Sousuke expectantly. He looks back down at his bag to close it, thinking of something to say.

“Yeah. She really loves him.” Sousuke replies, hoping that Tamiko knows that he’s talking about the dog toy when he refers to it as ‘him’. Tamiko’s slightly folded figure suddenly stands straight for a moment, surprising Sousuke a little.

“That reminds me.” Tamiko smiles again, looking happily over at Sousuke before venturing back into her home for something. Sousuke stands dumbfounded at her doorstep as he watches her disappear into her kitchen. 

Sousuke decides to get a tiny glimpse around her home as he waits for her return. Her apartment more or less is the same layout as his. It seems to be full of all kinds of vintage memorabilia. As well as that, she opted for the more traditional japanese furniture, a low table, built in shelves and a few thick cushions, rather than just a couch and a table, in Sousuke’s apartment. It doesn’t even occur to him that he’s wasting time by being here.

Tamiko reappears in the living room a second later, holding a rather large sized bun wrapped up in her hands. She holds it out to Sousuke as she reaches him again.

“I made this melonpan last night.” She nods, holding it out, awaiting Sousuke to take hold of it. Sousuke takes the bread into his hands, looking over it a little oddly. He’d heard of this before, but he’s never eaten it. 

“Thank you.” Sousuke says, looking over the bread again.  It’s a little strange for Tamiko to come bearing gifts for Sousuke, with all the harassment of Chouko he’s placing on her. 

Though it’s called melonpan, he’s heard that it actually isn’t melon flavoured. It’s a peculiar looking bread, but it looks crispy and rather good to eat, kinda tastes like a cookie. He doesn’t think he’ll eat the entire thing, though. He’s working on keeping fit, and this thing, yet delicious, looks really unhealthy. Maybe he can give it to Makoto.

“I thought it would be something sweet for you and your little boyfriend to share.” Tamiko chirps, wearing a teasing smile. Sousuke’s eyes shrink completely in size as he almost drops the bread in his hand, whilst in attempt to place it into his bag.

“M-my _what?”_ Sousuke repeats, making sure he heard her correctly this time. There’s no way Tamiko just said what he thought she did.

“Well, Sousuke-san, I was happening to come up the stairs from collecting my mail yesterday morning, and I caught you and a lovely looking young man ki-”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Sousuke cuts in suddenly, a little self-defensively. Tamiko is a little caught off guard.  _ Shit. _ Now she’s just going to think that he goes around kissing boys for no reason.  _ Think, Sousuke. Think. _

Tamiko seems to register the sudden look of panic rising on Sousuke’s face as she smiles at him again.

“...Yet?” She speaks, giving him a small wink as he looks back at her. Sousuke looks completely baffled, and he is, too. This lady…

“I’m going to be late.” Sousuke, grumbles, looking away. He can’t believe that just happened to him. Tamiko’s weak chuckle from besides him infuses his embarrassment even more. _At least she doesn’t have anything against homosexuals..._

\---

“Sou-chan!” Nagisa’s cheery voice greets him at the door of the music room. That’s another thing he wasn’t expecting this morning.

For the second time that day, his eyes widen as the entire band sit spaced out across the room. Nagisa looks up at him happily as he stands frozen slightly at the door. Rin and Rei seem to be conversing 

quietly on two chairs beneath the window. Rei has his brand new bass propped up on his knee. Haruka and Makoto sit towards the back of the room at the table. Haruka sits at the head of the table, with his guitar propped up on his knee, too. Makoto sits besides him, laughing at something with his keyboard set up on the table.

“Yo, Sousuke!” Rin greets him, sitting up straight. This elicits everybody else’s awareness of him being in the room, too. “I texted you before, but I don’t think you got it, judging by the look on your face..” He laughs quietly.

Sousuke has no choice but to walk into the room, seeing as he’s caught everybody’s attention. Nagisa closes the door politely behind him. 

“How come you're all up here?” Sousuke asks, looking at Rin a little confused, before looking up and aiming to look at Makoto directly. Did he plan this without telling him?

“Well, considering the performance is this week, we thought that we should all come to morning practice, too.” Makoto replies, looking back at Sousuke semi-apologetically. Both of them inwardly know that they'd prefer it if it were just the two of them this morning, but they both know that it's for the best.

“Oh, right..” Sousuke mutters. Now that he’s in the room, and aware of what’s going on, he’s a little lost on where to go. 

After a few seconds of standing awkwardly, his first instinct is to go over towards Makoto. Mostly because Rin looks concentrated with Rei’s bass work. He takes a seat on the opposite end of the table, facing Haruka, who looks up at him quietly as he joins them.

“Good morning.” Makoto greets him kindly. He looks at Sousuke in the corner of the eye as he fiddles about with one of the knobs of his keyboard.

“Morning..” Sousuke replies quietly, looking back at his lap. He has to figure something out that he can do whilst Makoto isn't available for any vocal training. 

“Haru and I are working on our parts for the bridge,” Makoto begins. His voice is soft, but not too quiet. They can all still hear the harsh buzzing coming from Rei’s bass across the room, and the silent beat that Nagisa plays. “We composed it together.” Makoto continues, smiling brightly at Haruka. Haruka himself doesn't look as proud as Makoto, but he still looks mildly interested. “If it's not too much, we were hoping that you could help come up with a melody for the lyrics… I know technically that should have been my-”

“You've done enough.” Haruka cuts in, speaking casually. “We wouldn't have gotten this far if you hadn't had made those lyrics.” He says, before looking away from him.

Makoto’s eyes widen a little at Haruka’s small praise, before he softens up, smiling warmly at him again. He always knew that Haruka would support him, he’s always been like that. Every time Makoto doubted himself, Haruka would be there to make him better, even when he didn't say anything. He’s stuck besides him almost all of his life. Makoto knows that right now isn't the time for being sentimental, and that they all have a ton of work to be getting on with. He’s just really glad he’s here.

Sousuke lowers his eyebrows at him.

“You need to play the part for me. So that I can get an idea of what you're wanting.” Sousuke says a little bluntly, making the other two blink quickly before looking back to him. “And you should probably let me record it.”

“Do it by ear.” Haruka looks back at Sousuke a little peeved. Sousuke himself then looks back at Haruka a little offended.

“You don't expect me to remember the entire thing and make something up just from hearing it once.” Sousuke argues back in defence. Maybe Haruka just learns differently to him. Still, he shouldn't force it on him.

“Just remember the base chords.” Haruka replies, sounding more impatient with every word. Makoto watches the two a little worried, there's a sudden tension between them, but he knows that Haruka is defending him since he knows that he doesn't like being recorded. He should probably tell him.

“Haru, it's fine. Sousuke’s actually recorded me before..” Makoto admits to his best friend, a little shyly. Haruka looks back at him a little surprised, trying to read the expression on his face.  _ Let's not do this. _ Haruka looks to Sousuke a little peeved again for an answer.

“He wouldn't be comfortable singing to you all if I didn't record it. He's fine with it.” Sousuke argues, lowering his eyebrows again at Haruka, who slowly mirrors his expression. 

Haruka scowls at him. Makoto is  _ his _ best friend. What would Sousuke know about what Makoto is and isn't comfortable with?  _ Who does he think he is? _

“You don't know that-”

“I  _ do _ know that. I have the recordings on my phone here.” Sousuke glares as he cuts Haruka off, holding up his phone.

Even the other three have stopped in what they're doing to watch the two silently. Rin swallows thickly.

“You can't just  _ speak  _ for him-”

“I'm  _ not _ speaking for him,  _ he said- _ ”

“Hey!” Makoto calls out in small panic after noting their expressions. “Stop it, both of you! Haru, it's okay. Sousuke  _ has _ been recording me, and Sousuke, Haru hadn't had an idea you were, so go easy on him.” Makoto looks to the both of them a little angrily as he addresses them both. The two still frown at each other, but not as harshly as now they've both been scolded by Makoto.

Sousuke wasn't exactly expecting Makoto to scold him, so he’s genuinely a little shocked from that. Shit. Is this gonna look bad? Is Makoto still going to like him? 

Haruka is lowkey feeling a little surprised himself. He wasn't expecting Makoto to defend Sousuke at all. He was just suggesting something… Then again, Haruka is the kind of guy to memorise the lyrics after hearing the song just once. Maybe Sousuke isn’t like that.

“Are we doing this?” Sousuke asks after a short silence, holding up his phone.

“Sure. If you don't mind, Haru.” Makoto turns back to him, smiling at him reassuringly. He knows he’ll probably be a little annoyed by Sousuke’s sudden intrusions.

“No. I don't mind.” Haruka looks away. Makoto nods at him with his trademark smile, before looking back to Sousuke, showing him the same smile still. 

“Right… We’ll be quiet down here so that you can record without interruption.” Rin speaks up, quiet at first. Rei sits besides him still, slightly baffled still from the small argument. 

Sousuke stands from his seat, moving around the table to sit facing the other two this time. He’s also closer to Rin this way. He sets his phone down on the table between Makoto’s keyboard and Haruka, who has his guitar propped up on his leg, fingers into place again. It's still a little tense between them, even so that the others are still watching them. 

“Whenever you're ready.” Sousuke utters, looking away as he hits the record button. 

It takes them a little moment before they finally begin to play. Makoto leads the bridge, playing a soft tune on his keyboard. Just like Sousuke had suggested, he kept to a grand piano sound. What he plays captures the idea that Makoto’s song represents; purity, innocence, and love. Haruka then follows up with a small solo.

Despite not being Haruka's biggest fan right now, Sousuke’s eyes widen unintentionally when he hears him play. His solo, even though it's an electric guitar, it doesn’t clash with Makoto’s piano, nor does it ruin the song. His playing is just as smooth, dreamy tones carrying him off somewhere else. Sousuke can feel himself relaxing. Is that weird? Though Haruka doesn’t even look that concentrated, Sousuke unwillingly admits that he is amazing at playing the guitar, just from hearing this. They make him think about a candlelit beach. The soft sound of the waves crashing gently, the sun setting into the painted seabed. Little fireflies dancer around him, drifting him to rest. But he doesn’t close his eyes. He watches closely as Haruka’s fingers make the whole solo look beautifully effortless. Now he knows what Rin is so captivated over.

Rin himself sits besides Sousuke, smirking up at him as they all listen to the two playing. What he doesn’t expect is for Sousuke to turn to face him, smirking back at him, nodding his head towards Haruka. Rin looks between the two before catching onto what Sousuke is trying to say to him, scowling and blushing lightly. Sousuke holds in his little laugh, leaning back in his seat and finally closing his eyes, imagining that little scene again in his head as the song plays. It truly is peaceful. He wonders if a place like this actually exists.

_ Plonk! _

_“Ah!”_ Makoto suddenly cries out, lifting his hands up from his keyboard and covering his face. Haruka stops playing too, looking over at Makoto a little concerned. “I’m sorry, I hit the wrong note and-”

“Makoto.” Haruka speaks up, moving his guitar away a little as he looks over at Makoto. Sousuke leans forward and switches off the recording. Haruka glances at him for a second, still looking a little serious, and then turns back to Makoto. “It’s okay. We’ll do it again.”

Sousuke silently takes Haruka’s word, pulling his phone up as Makoto collects himself together again. He almost made it to the end that time. Makoto puts his hands back down, shaking his head as he hovers his fingers above the keys again. He looks up to Sousuke for the green light to go, receiving a curt nod from him. Makoto smiles softly, and Sousuke presses the record button again.

This time, they manage to get through it just fine.

\---

“I wasn’t expecting Sousuke to reward us with a melonpan.” Rin laughs quietly. "I'll rephrase that. I wasn't expecting him to reward us at all!"

Himself, Makoto and Haruka are on their way home from school, just finishing up at the music club. It’s pretty light outside still, and it’s still kind of cold. The three of them hold their respective instruments over their shoulders as they walk. They’ve made plans to practice at Haruka’s house a little later on after dinner, after Nagisa brought up going over to Rei’s to practice with him.

“Me neither..” Makoto adds, looking over at Rin over Haruka’s head. He has to say he was rather surprised when Sousuke took out the tasty bread from his bag this morning after he had finished recording them. Of course, the six of them scoffed the entire thing in minutes. Mainly Nagisa.

“He was going to share it with you.” Haruka says casually. The two others look at Haruka a little surprisedly, until Haruka looks back up at Makoto. 

Sousuke was going to share it with _him?_ Has Haruka been onto them or something? What gave him that idea? Makoto decides to voice his thoughts.

“What? Why me?” Makoto replies, looking back at Haruka a little doubtedly. Haruka turns his head away from him.

“He had no idea that we were all going to be there this morning. He was only expecting you to be there.” Haruka says, and the cogs begin to turn in Makoto’s head. He’s right. He’s never brought the others a treat, not that he knows off, and he didn’t know the others would be joining them this morning. Heh. It’s kind of sweet.

“Hey, yeah!” Rin joins in. This time Makoto panics. Oh no. What if they start putting two and two together? “That’s odd. I wouldn’t have ever expected Sousuke to come baring gifts for  _ anybody. _ ” Rin continues, looking up at the sky, before looking to Makoto. “What did you do to him, Makoto?” He laughs, and before Makoto can reply, Haruka is quick to beat him to it.

“Is he forcing you?” Haruka speaks up, sounding a little agitated. Makoto’s eyes widen. “He’s making you sing and then giving you something for doing it?”

Makoto freezes for a moment. Haruka’s hit the nail on the head. Maybe not exactly 100% correct, but he’s right. Sousuke does get him to sing, and then  _ rewards _ him afterwards.

“That doesn’t sound like something Sousuke would-”

“Let him speak.”

“No, not at all!” Makoto shakes his head at the two. “Sousuke has been very helpful in my coaching. The whole recording thing, that was just a nerve or two of mine being shaken off… He didn’t exactly tell me he was going to record me, but I’m okay now.” He frowns. He isn’t mad at them at all, just a little shaken up incase they get found out.

Though, not one of them have brought up Haruka and Sousuke’s little argument.

“He didn’t tell you?” Haruka speaks up again, this time sounding a little concerned again.

“Well, I sang what I had, and it turned out he was recording me.” Makoto speaks, a little shyly. He knows that Haruka won’t have a happy reaction to that, and it’s proven by the small scowl on his face.

“But you’re okay now, right?” Rin tries to add, also seeing the negative emotion on Haruka’s face. Rin smiles when Makoto smiles at him, nodding happily. “So in that case, he helped you get over it, right? I knew he’d be a great coach.” Rin beams, looking off ahead and showing a shark-toothed grin. “I’m glad he transferred.” He chuckles, turning to his two friends. Haruka’s scowl deepens lightly.

Makoto tries his best to keep that smile on his face genuine.

\---

“Again? Really?” Rin groans upon entering Haruka’s house, greeted by Tobimaru-kun, Haruka’s guitar, sitting plain out in sight on the table as Haruka de-strings him. Makoto’s keyboard is propped up against the wall besides the kitchen.

“They didn’t feel right.” Is Haruka’s argument. He pauses in unwiring the last string as Makoto then enters, holding a tray with three cups, a jug full of some sort of tea, and a few snacks that Haruka had lying around.

“These should fuel us for the next couple hours.” Makoto smiles happily, setting the tray down on the table, away from Haruka’s guitar.

“Looks good.” Rin nods, taking his guitar off of his back and sitting down at the table, facing Haruka. He sits up on his knees as he opens up his own guitar case and takes his instrument out, checking over it in case anything happened whilst it was inside the bag.

Makoto goes about taking the jug and filling up the three of the cups with tea, which appears to be barley, judging from the smell. Before he settles down, he goes to collect his own instrument.

“Are you sure your neighbours won't mind?” Makoto asks Haruka a little shyly, returning to the table and opening the case. It's a good idea to ask since he knows how loud the other two can get.

“They won't hear us. We won't be that loud.” Haruka replies, quickly opening up his packet of new strings, and stringing them carefully, tuning each one by ear as he goes along. He does this so often that he does it in record time each time.

Makoto hums silently in agreement, watching Haruka quickly change his strings on his guitar. As soon as he’s done, he’s quick to clear the table and pull the instrument onto his lap. His fingers press the new strings down, wearing them into the fretboard as he gets comfortable.

“We’re just going to go over the song on a whole, right?” Makoto questions, moving to plug in his keyboard, next to the socket that’s currently charging Haruka’s MP3 player. Rin sits in a more comfortable position before nodding at Makoto.

“Right. We’ll go over it once, and then we’ll see what needs improving. I think tomorrow we’re definitely going through the entire song, all five of us.” Rin nods, leading and taking on his role as club president. Makoto smiles back at him proudly, before crawling back over to his keyboard, switching it on and fiddling about with the settings again

“Sounds good.” Makoto nods, getting the correct settings. “Since Nagisa isn’t here, I think there’s a metronome setting on here somewhere. What’s the tempo of the song again?” He asks curiously, looking for said setting. 

Nagisa has a small solo at the very beginning of the song, followed by Makoto, who’s meant to sing as well as play to Nagisa’s then slow beat. 

“Makoto.” Haruka says softly, though Makoto knows that it’s going to turn into a question, as suggested by his tone. Makoto looks up at him, still wearing his smile. “...Sing for us.”

Makoto’s eyes widen, as does his mouth, the littlest amount. Rin then suddenly nods excitedly, agreeing with Haruka.

“Yeah! You’re alright with that?” Rin asks, smiling supportively at Makoto, who still looks a little reluctant to say. “I mean, you’re going to have to do it in front of the school this week.” He smirks, though it’s not playful or mean.

Oh, right. That. Makoto swallows thickly, thinking over the question, before nodding a little slowly.

“Sure.” Makoto nods, trying to wear a gentle smile to match Rin. Haruka glances at him a little longer. He knows that Makoto isn’t too pleased, but he can’t do anything about it. Rin is right. Their performance is this week, and he doesn’t want it going wrong. Makoto looks back at him a little reassuring. “You have a point Rin. This can’t go wrong.”

Makoto stifles a small laugh when he notices Haruka looking a little surprised from having his mind read.

“Then, let’s hear what Sousuke’s done to you.” Rin chuckles, sitting back and putting his guitar aside for a moment, pretending he were someone in an audience. A moment later, Haruka does the exact same thing. Makoto watches them closely before looking down at his keyboard. 

What has Sousuke done to him? A lot to be pretty fair. He’s helped him to sing, control a fear, and he’s given him a sparking interest. He’s given him his fair share of sleepless nights, but they’ve proved to be worth it every time. And despite their short while of knowing one another, he knows he’ll never forget about him. Cheesy as it is, that’s the meaning of this song.

As soon as the metronome on his keyboard begins, Makoto takes a deep breath, and closes his eyes. He plays a small introduction on his keyboard, building himself up a little. He has to admit, his hands do shake a little. He’s never sung in front of the two of them alone before. After a few seconds of his introduction pass, his eyes open again, completely avoiding all eye-contact with Haruka and Rin. Makoto clears his throat quietly.

He thinks of Sousuke sitting there, instead. 

Both Rin and Haruka’s eyebrows raise as the first line is sung. They’ve never heard the lyrics being sung before, so not even they know how they fit with the tune. But, Makoto’s voice is warm as he sings, his tone is gentle, just like the lyrics he sings. He’s good. He’s still visibly shy, though. He doesn’t look up at them at all throughout the verses, and he doesn’t look like he’s planning on doing so. His fingers are still a little wobbly.

They widen even further when he gets towards the bridge. His voice suddenly has this scratchy undertone as he sings the more meaningful lyrics. Makoto’s brow furrows slightly the further he goes along. In all honesty, the harder he tries to sing softly, the stronger his voice gets. He has this unimaginable ability to do so. 

Rin nods in time with the metronome. Because of Makoto’s power of emotion through his lyrics, he understands him, despite the song supposedly not having any meaning. He smiles proudly down at Makoto, even though he won’t look back at him. He knows himself that Makoto isn’t all that confident in performing, but he’s doing this for them. For the band. 

As Makoto sings through the chorus, Rin taps rhythmically on his knee. He then turns to Haruka, a little surprised to see a genuine smile on his face. Haruka must be feeling the same way, too. Rin’s smile widens as the two watch their best friend singing his heart out.

Haruka watches Makoto, knowing how scared he’s probably feeling, even just singing to the two of them. He thinks his voice is good. It’s calm, but at the same time, electric, a little rough around the edges. It reminds him of the few heavier songs he has saved onto his MP3 player. 

Suddenly, Haruka makes a grab for his guitar. He throws the strap over his shoulder, placing his fingers into position. Rin blinks oddly from besides him, before giving a small frown.  _ Surely he can’t be wanting to just wander off into his own little world right now... _

His thoughts are halted as Haruka then decides to join in with Makoto’s playing. He plays alongside him, powering through the chords they settled on happily. Rin regains his smile, grinning from ear to ear, as the sound of his bandmates playing beautifully together fills his ears. 

Makoto then decides to look up, hearing that Haruka has decided to join in, too. That means he’s enjoying it. He loses his breath a little for a moment as he sees Rin’s huge smile. He closes his eyes again, smiling as he sings the chorus. He feels his voice becoming a little louder, now with the support of his best friends. 

He doesn’t think of Sousuke sitting there in front of him anymore, because he’s always known that Rin and Haruka would be supportive of him. Instead, he thinks of Sousuke sat besides him, singing with him.

That familiar _cha-chink_ of Rin’s lead guitar follows during the second half of the chorus. The three of them play together, and Makoto’s singing stops for a moment. He takes this moment to hear their song come together. Of course, their bass and drums are missing, but it still sounds perfect to him. Makoto takes another deep breath, before singing again.

Their little song is finally coming together, and it sounds so good. Sure, it’s not the greatest song in the world; it’s still a little rough, and the lyrics aren’t so good either, but it’s good to them. And that’s all they need it to be.

Makoto really owes Sousuke for this. He’d still be sitting on his hands and chewing his lip right now if he hadn’t had recorded him that afternoon. He’d still be in that position if he didn’t even offer to help him sing. As he uses those thoughts to help him sing through the second verse, he thinks of how truthful the words are to him. This silent insomnia that Sousuke has unknowingly given him is bad for his health, but Sousuke is just so good for him. 

Huh. That sounds like a lyric of some sort. He resists shaking his head as he tries to focus on the task at hand again.

Makoto smiles to himself again, lowering his head and focusing on his keyboard as he fights off a small blush. If he messes this up, then they’re going to wonder what’s up with him after doing so well, and it’s all fun and games from then on. It sort of  _ is _ like a little game, hiding their relationship, if they can even call it that.

_ “Again!” _ Rin calls out, happiness detected easily in his voice as they reach the end of the second chorus. They each rotate, breaking out into a little solos as they return to the beginning. Makoto takes his third deep breath as he prepares himself to happily sing the first verse again, dwelling in their dreamy sound. He licks his lips before he sings, still tasting the sweet residue of the melonpan.

As he sings again, he’s already thinking of lyrics for a second song.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> spoiler: i can't wait for y'all to read the next chapter lmao
> 
> ;)))
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed that chapter, and I'm going to try my best to get back to my regular updates despite the things happening at home/college/heck
> 
> \---
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions regarding this fic and its updates! I love hearing your feedback!
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	32. Turning Tables

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *incoherent screeching of ao3 author karumello in the distance*
> 
> Sousuke and Makoto get straight back to practice, seeming eager for something other than singing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha.... Hahahaha....
> 
> IM SO SORRY
> 
> That's honestly all I can say as for now. Yes, I am to understand that it has been a month since my last update. Here are my reasons for my stupid dumb fuckfing absence:
> 
> 1\. college kicking my ass (part 3 of 4)  
> 2\. holidays ! (i hope you all had an amazing holiday!! and nEW YEAR)  
> 3\. shit at home (part ??? of ???? fuck me man)
> 
> and finally, i've really, REALLY, been putting myself down lately. I guess I'm just a little bummed that this fic is doing worse than i expected it to. Im not saying this to revoke empathy from anybody. I guess it's my own damn fault for chosing the band au and sucky updates. idk man. i js feel it could have done better. that's all ill say for now.
> 
> ANYWHO ILL STOP COMPLAINING AND DEPRESSING Y'ALL ENJOY THE CHAP i lUV U <3

_[Sousuke: makoto]_

_[Sousuke: meet early again?]_

Makoto smiles down at his glowing phone screen, early Tuesday morning. He’s already dressed and stood outside his front door, keyboard resting on his back. Little did Sousuke know, Makoto was waiting for that exact text. He had the feeling it was coming since they missed their little morning yesterday.

_[Sure. I’m on my way.]_

He texts him back before pocketing his phone and pushing off from the wall, beginning his quick walk towards the school. The morning breeze is a little cold against his skin, but the weather is perfect other than that. The sun is gentle and there isn’t a sign of any spring rain. He feels fresh. His phone buzzes twice, and he decides to ignore it for a moment, before gaining curiosity and going into his pocket.

_[Sousuke: that was quick. missing me already?]_

_[Rin: Okay. Keep up the good work.]_

Makoto laughs mutely at Sousuke’s response, choosing not to respond to him for obvious reasons. He texts back to Rin with a quick _‘Will do!’_ and puts his phone away.

This time, as he walks past his friend’s houses, he thinks to himself about the new song he wrote last night. Makoto knows that now isn’t the time for new songs, as they still haven’t even performed this one yet. But still, there’s the excitement that comes with it all. Besides all that, this is the first song that he can say has genuine meaning behind it.

Though, he doesn’t think he can perform this one live. Or to Sousuke. It’s more or less something to keep to himself. It’s personal. Despite that, it still makes him happy. Maybe he can change it up a little before the band need a second song. Or maybe somebody else in the band will beat him to writing a second song. He does remember a while back that Rin had something in mind…

Makoto thinks of a vibe for his new song, something a little more energetic and heavier, as he walks towards the school. As it’s early, the sky is particularly dull, but the lack of sunlight doesn’t even stop the smile on his face.

Everything seems to be going greatly recently, but he knows deep down that not everything is too great. On the low, he’s still worried about Haruka and Sousuke’s little argument yesterday. He knows that when they began their second year, Haruka disliked Sousuke over his hatred of mackerel. He just hopes that the disagreement yesterday didn’t finalize that.

Both of them can act pretty similar at sometimes. Sometimes they’re both quiet, and Makoto is aware now that both of them spend a lot of time thinking rather than saying. He can only guess what they think of each other for now.

He knows that if Haruka ever found out about his and Sousuke’s little ‘mornings’, he wouldn’t be too pleased. But this is still the start of the year, there’s plenty of time to resolve things, right? Hopefully so.

And there's plenty of time to… Come out to him. And the rest of the band, _and his parents._

Shaking off all negative thoughts, Makoto then thinks about if Sousuke has written out that bridge for them yet… He wonders about how he would have used his voice to make it sound good. Curiously, it leads Makoto off to think about if Sousuke ever had any vocal training himself, or whether he just learnt to sing himself.

That’s another thing that’s similar between Haruka and Sousuke. Both of them prefer their own ways of learning, not by the book. It’s natural for people to learn that way, it’s just the more unpopular way. Makoto learnt by the book, and his coaches, and he assumes that Rin did the same thing, too. His father was a guitarist, anyway.

Makoto smiles softly to himself as he imagines a smaller, younger version of Rin, holding such a large guitar and sitting with his father as he teaches him how to play. It makes him happy when he thinks about it, though he doubts it would do the same for Rin if it did happen that way.

He takes another breath of fresh air, closing his eyes and humming a tune as he walks towards the school building.

\---

The main doors are yet again open for any early comers and staff as they usually are. He wonders if Sousuke has somehow beat him to get here, though he doubts it. Sousuke does kinda live a little while away from here, and _he_ lives a little walk away.

Upon entering the building, Makoto decides to wait upstairs in the music room for Sousuke, seeing as his earlier thoughts have proven to be correct. Sousuke isn't here yet. He takes his usual seat at the table, and takes out his phone, curiosity building up a little.

_[I’m here. Where are you?]_

Makoto texts him quickly, before going about taking his keyboard out of its case and setting it down on the table. He takes the plug and moves around the table, plugging it in and returning to fiddle about with the settings. He supposes he can perhaps play about with his new song whilst he waits. As he goes to take a seat again, his phone lights up besides the keyboard.

_[Sousuke: that was quick. i’m still on the train. not too long, impatient for me?]_

Makoto can feel a slight blush coming on as he texts him back.

_[Impatient to practice, yes.]_

After sending the message, and laughing mutely at his little flirt, Makoto puts his phone aside and settles back at his keyboard. His new song… Though he shouldn’t exactly be working on it right now, it’s a little something he’s excited about. In his head, it’s _completely_ different to Millionaire.

He cringes a little visibly at that title, still. Speaking of which, he doesn’t even have a title for his new song. He can’t call it anything too risky, but at the same time, he’s still completely unsure on whether he _wants_ to show the band this new one.

Hovering his hands over the keys, Makoto closes his eyes and inhales through his nose. He knows the sound that he wants for this song. Something stronger and passionate.

_Bzzt!_

Makoto’s eyes open again as his phone vibrates against the table, surprising him a little. He doesn’t pick his phone up, but he looks to the side and glances down at the screen as the message flashes.

 _[Sousuke: top or bottom?]_  
  
Makoto blinks a couple times as he reads the text. Top or bottom? There’s only one instance he can think of where that question would come into context, and Sousuke wouldn’t be asking him that, would he?

_…Would he?_

His phone vibrates again. Twice.

 _[Sousuke: i should rephrase that.]_ __  
  
[Sousuke: upstairs or downstairs?]

Sighing with a small laugh, Makoto presses the back of his hand to his forehead before picking up his phone and replying. Sousuke wouldn’t ask him something _that_ personal yet.  
  
_[Upstairs.]_

Sousuke practically types back the second it’s sent.   
  
[Sousuke: in what sense?]

Makoto blinks again, and his eyes widen. Jeez, _now_ shouldn’t be the time for this!  
  
_[In the sense that that's where I'm waiting for you!]_

He groans softly as he lowers his head, pouting at his phone as he moves to hold it with both hands, awaiting a reply.  
  
[Sousuke: how sweet.]  
  
Now he doesn’t know whether to groan again or cry. He will admit that he does like Sousuke’s flirting, he’s done it quite a few times now, but he’d prefer to hear it out loud rather than see it as characters on a screen. He likes hearing his voice getting all low and kinda suggestive…

Shaking his head quickly, Makoto looks back down at his phone a little frustratedly now that Sousuke has got him like this.

_[Stop teasing me!]_

Makoto can literally hear him laughing through his messages, almost as if he were here and he were pointing out his growing blush.  
  
_[Sousuke: nah. it's fun.]_  
  
_[You're doing it on purpose!]_  
  
_[Sousuke: it's cute.]_

There it is again; the cute thing. Makoto smiles softly at the message, appreciating it but at the same time, thinking of something to dig back with. It takes him literally a second, typing back a little deviantly.  
  
_[You like me when I'm cute don't you?]_  
  
That should keep him quiet. Makoto hums to himself happily as he doesn’t get an immediate response like he has been getting.

Huh. Now he doesn’t feel like playing his keyboard, which won’t last long since Sousuke will actually be here soon and he’s going to have to. He feels like… Well… Just spending more time with him.

Makoto’s smile widens when he hears his phone buzz again. Eager, he leans over and sees a message he wasn’t expecting to see again. He picks up his phone with another groan.  
  
_[Sousuke: top or bottom?]_  
  
_[Stop it!]_

_[Sousuke: lol]_

Makoto puts his phone aside again, before picking it up in an embarrassed rush and stashing it in his pocket. He’ll wait for Sousuke to get here himself. For now, he’ll work on the song.

Going into his bag, he looks around for his notebook. Seeing as it helped Sousuke to sleep, and also helped him to create an entire novel of lyrics, he decided to pull out an old notebook that he didn’t really use last year, and used it for a lyric book. Guaranteed, it worked.

Maybe one day it’ll be full like Sousuke’s.

Still, it's a wonder how he filled those pages under two months. Maybe Sousuke has had a huge life behind him, in Tokyo. Perhaps that fuelled some of it? But… The lyrics he read weren't anything to do with the city. Strangely enough he can remember a couple. There was something about lines, and another one about dreams.

Dreams.. Maybe it started out as a dream journal or something? No. Sousuke doesn't exactly sound like he would use that. Anyway, he didn't even admit that they were lyrics. Maybe he _does_ want to be a poet?

Opening the notebook to its first page, where he wrote the lyrics he did last night, Makoto looks down at the scrawls of ink that he can barely make out as words. How tired was he when he wrote this again? It _was_ pretty late. Not AM late, no way. That’d be bad for his health, and he knows that Sousuke keeps on top of _his_ health. He probably wouldn't like a guy who had bad health...

Taking a pen from his pocket; he rips out the page, as much as it shows progression, and decides to write out the lyrics again on the page besides it.

As he writes them out again, he begins to feel the intimacy that underlays them, and being in a school at the moment, knowing that he won’t be able to do anything about it, makes him the slightest uncomfortable as he writes.

He’s prone to sigh when his phone goes off again. Just _how_ long is Sousuke going to take?

_[Sousuke: meet me in toilets facing club room]_

Huh? The bathroom? Why does he want to meet in there? It’s a little suspicious now that Makoto thinks about it. Maybe he wants to _talk_ to him again… That might be it.

With that in mind, Makoto gets up from his seat, remembering to close over his book and heads out of the room. His keyboard is still plugged in and switched on, and his bag is still besides the leg of the table.

The bathroom is probably bigger than their club room, is the thought that Makoto has in his head when he first steps inside of it. This bathroom isn’t really used all that often seeing as it’s quite hidden away. There’s obviously the toilet stalls on one side, and sinks facing, aligned with a long mirror. Seeing as the mirror almost takes up the entire wall, the first thing that Makoto looks at is obviously himself. And the first place he looks to is his lips. They’re looking a little chapped again.

In a sense, Makoto is actually glad that Nagisa picked out the lip balm for him. It’s sweet and is apparently Sousuke’s favourite flavour. How cliche. He smiles to himself as he takes out the little tube from his inside pocket, and begins to apply it to his lips again, pouting in the mirror.

“Again?” A voice purrs from behind one of the stalls.

Makoto jumps out of his skin, and drops the chapstick. It lands in the sink in front of him, almost going down the drain, but thankfully it stops rolling. He’ll be able to use it again once he just scrapes that end off or something… Cola is Sousuke’s favourite, so there’s no way he’s throwing that away. Makoto places a hand over his heart, catching his breath from the sudden shock.

Sousuke walks out slowly from behind one of the stalls, chuckling lowly to himself. Makoto sighs quietly, looking over his shoulder and looking at him unamused.

“Very funny, Sousuke… And good morning,” Makoto comments, watching as he walks over towards him. He then turns his head, looking back down at the chapstick in the sink. “I actually wasn’t putting it on for you, this time.”

“Morning.” Sousuke replies quickly, walking besides him and leaning back onto the sinks, placing his forearms on the counter. He looks up at Makoto, wearing a faded smirk. “And you’re admitting to wearing it for me last time?”

“No!” Makoto chokes out, picking up the chapstick from the sink and looking over it. He sets it aside on the counter away from Sousuke, who he looks at next. “My lips were actually chapped this time.” He continues quietly, trying to fight off Sousuke’s growing smirk. “And, It’ll stop my lips from sticking together when I sing… If they’re chapped.”

“Excuses.” Sousuke says in a happy huff, closing his eyes as he returns to full height.

“So, why did you ask to meet in here?” Makoto asks a little curiously. He seems to hit some sort of nerve within Sousuke, as he looks straight ahead a little nervously for a second. He shakes his head lightly, before standing back at full height.

“In the bathroom, you get more of a clearer sound when you sing.” Sousuke says, though it isn’t exact fact. It’s something he’s discovered from singing in the shower so often. “Also, there’s a mirror here. That’s what I wanted you to see.”

“Myself?” Makoto questions, looking up at his reflection, at himself. He looks fine today, not blushing yet, and his hair is in place for once. He notes that his lower lip is covered in a thin layer of balm, and his top lip isn’t, after dropping his chapstick earlier. Makoto purses his lips together, rubbing in the mixture. Hopefully Sousuke didn’t see that.

“Yeah.” Sousuke replies quietly, watching him from a small distance. The longer he stares at Makoto’s reflection, the more he finds himself not wanting to look away. He doesn’t know what it is but… It’s weird. “The best way to overcome confidence issues is to face yourself first.”

Makoto blinks slowly at himself in the mirror. Confidence issues? Sousuke thinks he has confidence issues? He pouts softly, as he considers the thought even more. He does get a little nervous, but that’s just natural, right? Not everybody is a natural born singer. He supposes the best way to find out what Sousuke means is to actually ask him.

“Confidence issues?” Makoto says, sounding a little confused, looking at Sousuke in the reflection of the mirror, as he stands pretty close to him now.

“Don’t say it like that.” Sousuke speaks up, standing straight and folding his arms over his chest, taking on his serious role. He seems to have completely ignored their ‘innocent’ texting just minutes before. “You know what I mean. You’re still getting nervous when you sing. It’s kinda easy to tell.”

Makoto eyes widen a little, actually turning to look across at Sousuke himself this time. He can’t tell if Sousuke just has a lot to say, or he’s being truthful. Then, he doubts for a second. Sousuke is taking time to get to know him, so why would he say this just to make it complicated?

“It is?” Makoto replies softly. Sousuke opens his eyes, nodding at him simply. He doesn’t want Makoto to take any offence, so how can he put this?

“Mm.” He hums, taking a small breath. “Your hands get all shaky, and you stand awkwardly.” He says, watching as Makoto’s expression changes slowly. He takes his silence as the go ahead to carry on. “You sing mostly with your head down, or looking away from the subject.”  
  
“Yesterday I was singing to Haru and Rin just fine.” Makoto interrupts slightly, despite that being the end of Sousuke’s small critique. But, what Sousuke is saying is true. Now that he thinks about it, even yesterday he was nervous to sing in front of them, and he doesn’t remember looking them in the eye at all as he sang. He can’t keep his head down during the actual performance…

Sousuke on the other hand is a little surprised that Makoto has technically been practising. He’s a man of his word, and he’ll do anything to help his friends, in that sense… Like Rin said, it’s for the band, right? Rin… He wonders for a small moment if he’ll need vocal training too, before remembering that Makoto is simply the more of a priority one when it comes to vocals. But he won’t back down. He’s doing this to help Rin, like he said.

And… He’s doing this for Makoto, too.

“You know both of them personally.” Sousuke says, now in a lighter tone. Makoto may look like a soft person, but Sousuke knows he can take a few comments. Still, he doesn’t want to get on his bad side, if he even has one. But Sousuke knows himself too well. He knows that he’s not exactly the politest person, but he really doesn’t want to upset him. “You’re comfortable around them, so it won’t be a problem. I doubt you can go out into the audience and get to know them all like that.”

“I…” Makoto says, in an almost whisper. He looks down at the chapstick on the side again. Though hearing this, Makoto can’t help but tell that Sousuke’s voice has become slightly softer.

“You have a lot of pressure for this show, I understand that.” Sousuke says, turning and leaning back against the counter again. “A guy that’s just learning to sing, and he has a show in only a matter of days. That’s pressure on yourself.”

“I’d say the most of the pressure is on Nagisa…” Makoto responds, standing back so that his behind touches the counter. He looks down at the floor whilst Sousuke opens an eye in confusion at him. Makoto lifts his head, opening his mouth again. “He has the opening solo, and then he has to keep us all in time. If he slips up, then we do, too.”

Sousuke lowers his eyebrow.

“And Rei, too… He’s really trying his best” Makoto adds, still looking away from Sousuke, who seems to look a little annoyed now. His mouth forms some sort of sulk, and his eyes are heavy-lidded.

“He can’t even play that bass yet.” He cuts in, trying to serve a point across to him. Why would he put either of them before himself? Or that’s it. Makoto really has a tendency to put others before himself.

“He’s trying his best, Sousuke.” Makoto says softly, in attempt to reason with him. He looks across at him with a warm smile. “Rin came up with something simple for him to try and learn.” He continues, now turning around. He’s met with his reflection again, looking a little relaxed.

“What about you?” Sousuke asks him, sounding a little offended. It catches Makoto off guard, as he stares aimlessly into his own eyes in the mirror. What about him? “You have to sing in front of the school, a crowd, whoever shows up.”

Makoto’s eyes widen a little, not even detecting the small shake he gives. Sousuke watches him a little warily from the sidelines.

In front of the school, a crowd, whoever shows up. A bunch, group, crowd of people, watching him, inspecting him, taking note of everything he does. Looking out for any sort of mistake he makes. Sousuke has a point. If he screws up, he screws the entire band up. If Nagisa makes a mistake, it’s okay. There’s more than one instrument to cover it up. There’s just him singing. Nobody else can cover up for him.

“Makoto.”

This is Rin’s future, too. If he makes too many mistakes, then that’s gonna look bad on Rin’s behalf, seeing as he has the most shining future out of all of them. Nagisa and Rei won’t get a great first impression, and Haruka will be disappointed in him. But, Haruka is his best friend. Surely he’ll understand him. He always does. But Haruka doesn’t like anything that sounds bad, or messy. It’ll annoy him in the least…

“... _Makoto?”_

Makoto stares at himself, not blinking any time soon, imaging himself stood in front a huge crowd. He doesn’t even look the part. He looks too nervous, too afraid. Like he’s ready to run away at any given minute. But he can’t do that, that’ll just make it worse.

“Uh..”

And Sousuke. _Oh God, Sousuke_. That’d be the worst. If he bailed, Sousuke would hate him. Spending all this time together, practising, and admitting his feelings. He would never want to practise again with him, nor would he even ever have the feelings returned for him. But… Would he really be that way? There’s something that’s telling him otherwise, and-

“Wanna see my dick?”

Makoto blinks hard. What? He suddenly looks at Sousuke, who’s now chuckling mindlessly into his hand. Makoto looks over him, trying to read him for an answer to whatever he just said. He looks back at Makoto, with a sly look on his face.

“Huh?” Makoto squeaks, so soft. He looks at Sousuke so innocently, and it’s undoubtedly adorable.

Maybe he can joke around, just to ease his mood a little.

“So that got your attention. Interesting.” Sousuke smirks, his shoulders still bouncing a little in quietened laughter. Makoto’s eyes widen again, at a panicking rate.

“N-no! That’s not what my intention was, I, I was just-” Makoto splutters through his words, being completely thrown off by Sousuke’s little reply, and his expression too. He looks totally mischievous, what with that little glint in his eye, and that smirk pulling at his lips. Makoto swallows thickly, looking up at him shyly. _“What did you say?”_ He squeaks out quietly again.

Sousuke chuckles lightly to himself again, turning on his side, putting his forearms down on the counter, leaning down and looking up at Makoto.

“I didn’t say anything.” Sousuke replies simply, though they both know Makoto can detect the lie. Sousuke then tilts his head up at him, wearing a more calm expression. “What were you thinking about? You looked a little lost there.”

Makoto looks down at him a little surprised. He totally forgot that Sousuke was probably watching him have his little freak out. Though, he can’t stand here and tell Sousuke about all of that… It would be embarrassing, and it would probably let Sousuke himself down a whole lot.

“Nothing.” He says, looking away into the mirror, seeing a small blush on his cheeks. Oh. Now it looks like he was thinking about something dirty. Makoto blinks quickly, looking back at Sousuke hurriedly, but he’s a little too late. Sousuke’s wearing that smirk again. “I wasn’t thinking about, about… Not about your, _um.."_

  
Sousuke shakes his head, laughing to himself again. That blush that Makoto felt earlier, he can feel it worsening. It’s odd how they can go from cold to hot so quickly.

"Jeez, you're so prude Makoto... Come on." Sousuke says, looking pretty smug now. Prude? Prude in what sense? Makoto raises an eyebrow at him this time.

"Come on?" Makoto asks, tilting his head back at Sousuke, who now stands back at full height. He sure is moving a lot today… And speaking of which, he seemed a little nervous earlier.  
  
"Mm. Seeing as you've liked me so long. I thought you'd be coming up to that stage." Is Sousuke’s reply, though he looks away, and becomes slightly quieter towards the end of his sentence. Now Makoto is extremely curious.

"Stage? What do you mean?" Makoto asks. He seems to hit some sort of nerve, because Sousuke’s irises shrink a little.  
  
"There's stages to a liking somebody, right? You should know." Sousuke says, finding the courage to look back at him again. Now it’s Makoto’s turn to smirk.  
  
"I should know? Tell me." Makoto asks, leaning in a little. Sousuke’s eyes widen again, and Makoto can literally hear him swallowing.

It’s kind of funny really. Sousuke’s acting like some sort of relationship guru. Looks like he’s been studying then. Is this why he’s been so nervous today? Could it be that he’s actually into him?  
  
"Well, at first there's denial and resistance... Then before acceptance there's attraction, and sometimes it gets sexual.." Sousuke says, crossing his arms over his chest again, trying to don his serious look. Though, when he’s literally talking about sexual thoughts, he can’t seem to say it quite seriously. He seems a little hesitant. Makoto giggles quietly, in turn making him lower his eyebrows at him. _"So,_ what stage are we at?" He insists, trying to get an answer from Makoto, trying to turn this around.  
  
"What stage are _you_ at? Willing to show me your-"  
  
_"That was a joke."_ Sousuke defends himself quickly, trying his hardest to not break a sweat. Damn it… _Why did he say that?_ It was meant to be a little dig, maybe a little flirt at Makoto, but what he’s forgotten, is that Makoto is exceedingly good at turning tables.

Makoto feels a spark inside of him. He feels so strange… But a good kind of strange. He always feels this way when Sousuke talks to him like this. It makes him want more. Makes him want to just jump right onto him, feel his touch, his everything. Wants him to make him feel some sort of energy. It sounds so cliche, but it’s what he wants right now more than anything.  
  
"Sounded like an invitation." Makoto says quietly, stepping even closer to him. His sudden change of mood pushes him to bravely throw his arms up around Sousuke’s shoulders.

He looks up at Sousuke with a widening grin. Sousuke wants to brush him off, defend himself again, but he won’t let this moment down.  
  
"Maybe it was." He comments purely. It doesn’t have the effect that he hoped it would, because Makoto only looks back him slightly amused. He also finds himself putting his arms around Makoto’s waist, seeing as he has his around his shoulders. It’s comfortable.

“What's with you today?” Makoto asks in a light tone, shaking his head minimally at him. Sousuke is now more confused that he was before.

“Huh?” He huffs out. Makoto looks down, the tiny blush on his cheeks deepens slightly.

“All these subtle little hints… Are you trying to flirt with me?” Makoto says sweetly, looking back up at him, eyebrows raised in question, small smile playing on his lips.

_Shit._

Makoto’s smile deepens, when he notices the sudden look of panic registering itself on Sousuke’s face. He was totally trying to flirt with him, and there’s no way Makoto’s going to let it down. This is too precious.

“No.” Sousuke spits out quickly, looking Makoto dead in the eye.

 _“Yes you are.”_ Makoto teases, leaning in again. Sousuke doesn’t move away.

“I'm not.” Sousuke says quickly again. He doesn’t budge at all, instead, he allows Makoto to come as close as he wants. But then, as soon as he processes that thought, Makoto looks away shyly.

“Well, you had me, whatever you were doing..” He mumbles under his breath, hiding his hands behind his back. Makoto still smiles though. He’s learnt that Sousuke likes that. It’s kinda cute how Sousuke is attempting to show his affection back, though he’s being blaringly obvious. He probably thinks he’s being subtle.

“I miss shy Makoto…” Sousuke grumbles. There’s a blush that’s threatening his cheeks, and he’s doing his best to keep it away.

Sousuke steps forward, taking Makoto backwards with him. Makoto’s grip on him doesn’t loosen at all, instead, he keeps walking backwards, until he hits a wall. He looks up at Sousuke towering over him now.

“Cute Makoto?” Makoto smiles cutely at him, giving him exactly what he wants. The scowl he wears now is totally evident of that.

 _“Fuck you...”_ Sousuke growls. It doesn’t even phase Makoto.

He knows he’s playing a seriously dangerous game here. They’re not in the comfort of Sousuke’s home, or his bed. They’re in the middle of the school. And right now they should be practicing, for their school concert that’s in a couple of days. But… This right here just feels so good.

For both of them.

Makoto grins up at Sousuke, pressing the tips of their noses together. Would it be like this if they were a couple? Makoto hopes so. Even though they aren’t anything right now, it truly feels like they’re a thing. Maybe it’s the spark inside of him, or the fact that Sousuke seems to be totally fine with all of this. Like he wants it, too…

The look in his eye tells him he wants it. His eyes, shine. Such a beautiful colour, too. Sousuke’s eyes are like a thousand oceans under a midnight sky. Makoto knows it’s such a cringeful and cliche thing to describe in this moment, but he honestly can’t help himself.

Sousuke isn’t backing away. He isn’t stopping himself from doing anything. The only thing he _is_ stopping himself from doing is caring about anything around them in this moment.

It then hits Makoto that he’s finally kind of being held in Sousuke’s arms. And it’s exactly like it was in his dream. _It’s_ _warm, and comfortable, and makes him feel all fuzzy inside._ Not only that, but it also makes him extremely happy.

It’s sweet. Makoto smiles at him, reflecting his every thought into his smile.

It takes a moment, but Sousuke smiles back at him, with a tiny huff through his nose.

Makoto throws his head back against the wall, baring his neck to Sousuke, and letting out a small chuckle.  
  
He doesn’t feel that same spark before. But now he feels something blossoming from his insides, making him shiver. Now he feels like building forts again and being innocent. Is this part of the stages Sousuke was talking about? He giggles again as he thinks about it.

Sousuke’s eyes sparkle, and soften, watching the boy in front of him. He feels laughter bubbling in his chest, but he doesn’t want to ruin the moment, so he keeps it down. He knows that laughing with him wouldn’t actually ruin anything, instead it would make it all the more mushy, and romantic. But right now, he just wants to admire Makoto.

He isn’t just cute. He’s handsome, and enlightening. Almost like the sun. Bright and beautiful. Sunshine, that helps the seeds of true feelings grow in his head, one step closer to the sun. Jesus, _what is he saying? All of this poetic shit… Sounds like it belongs in his notebook._

Sousuke shakes his head of all thoughts, still wearing his small smile. He can’t believe this idiot is making him think of these things. It’s so unlikely and not common of him. Yet, he’s making Makoto happy, by the looks of it. His laughter is so melodic. And speaking of melodic…

“Alright. You’ve had your stupid little shit digs now.” Sousuke says, removing his arms slowly, a little reluctantly from around Makoto’s waist. It doesn’t stop the other from smiling though.

“I’m flattered.” Makoto laughs, pushing himself off of the wall. He catches sight of himself in the mirror, looking a little flustered. He doesn’t care though, as long as Sousuke looks the same way he does.

“I wrote that tune for you last night. Something tells me we should start practising before your ass gets thrown out.” Sousuke says, taking the lyrics out from his pocket. Makoto’s eyes widen slightly. He knows that Sousuke is joking, but he doesn’t think that the band would ever kick him out.

“Right…” Makoto nods slowly, watching as Sousuke puts the lyrics down besides the sink. They look a little crumpled. Sousuke has definitely been studying them. Makoto smiles down at his own handwriting.

“So what I’ve got advised for you, is to sing in front of yourself.” Sousuke says, watching Makoto warily. He seems to take it a little by surprise, but not as surprised as he thought he would be. Maybe their little moment there calmed him down a bit. “If you want to overcome your struggles, you face yourself first.”

Makoto smiles at himself, though it’s more or less because of what Sousuke is saying. Does he always make up these little quotes? As helpful as they are, they sound way too professional to be coming from Sousuke. He should be a professional, with that voice of his and all.

Oh. He’s probably waiting for a reply.

“Got it.” Makoto nods confidently, looking at himself head on in the mirror. Though his face still looks a little reddened, his expression is as serious he can make it. Sousuke smirks at him again on the side.

“Right. So let’s do it this way. You sing your way through. I’ll stop and correct you when needed, and when it gets to the bridge, I’ll sing what I came up with. Then you repeat after me.” Sousuke instructs, showing that he knows what he’s doing again. Makoto can’t wait to hear him sing again.

“Okay.” Makoto replies simply. They did waste a little time by having their little flirt about, so Makoto keeps his replies short.

“So, whenever you’re ready, I guess…”

Makoto nods simply at his reflection. He swallows once, and takes a deep breath in. This is completely new to him. Strange as it is, he’s never seen himself sing before. It’s gonna look weird seeing his own singing voice coming from his own mouth, and having to stare at it for more than a minute. It shouldn’t be odd, but there’s just… Something a little scary about it.

Sousuke watches from a small distance. He seems to be preparing himself.

Makoto looks at himself again, and takes another deep breath. His lips won’t budge, as much as he knows they want to, and need to. He’s only wasting more time by prolonging this. He kind of wishes Sousuke would say something to put him at ease again.

Sousuke raises an eyebrow at him, not saying a thing.

 _“Ahaha…”_ Makoto laughs nervously, turning his head to look over at Sousuke with a closed-eye nervous smile. He literally winces at Sousuke’s tiny sigh, though he doesn’t sound too annoyed. Hopefully.

It’s still early morning, and they have some more time left. And Makoto’s had one thing proven to him today. Or maybe two.  
  
Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the adventure of sousugay yamahomo continues and it will forever continue bc lil sousy is fallin in luv <3333
> 
> "karu you fucker dont spoil it" am i spoiling it he is literally the gAYEYTS ITS RRIGHT HTHEHRE
> 
> anYWHO i super super promise i won't keep y'all waiting long again. I'm gonna try and lift my spirit somehow with this fic because it is my child and i love it dearly, even if anybody else doesn't.
> 
> also it is my birthday next month & i dont want to adult
> 
> that being said it's 5:30am and uh yeah time 2 skiddaddle my dudes see y'all next chap
> 
> \---
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions regarding this fic and its updates! I love hearing your feedback!
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	33. Similar Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sousuke has a new idea for Makoto. He's a little unsure of whether it will actually work, or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hELLO DEARIES
> 
> where in the fUCK did i go this time??
> 
> 1\. college is gonna end up being my cause of death  
> 2\. i'm gonna be honest. i did hit a bit of a writer's block, but i've managed to fight it off these past couple weeks.  
> 3\. crippling depression  
> 4\. also... it was my birthday back in february. thought i'd say that. 
> 
> ALSO I wanna give a HUGE shoutout to [Evie](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Sakuravie/pseuds/Sakuravie) for helping me so much with this chapter !! she has some AMAZING rinharu fics if anyone is into that !!
> 
> fREE ANNOUNCEMENT HAS POWERED ME THROUGH THIS. im truly happy with the new projects! though the teamsplit business isn't too great... anywho, letTS GO SOUMAKO

“It’s ‘feel the sa- _ ame _ ’, you’re singing ‘feel the same.’”

“Feel the  _ same?” _

“Feel the sa- _ ame’. _ When you get to the end of the line, drag it out and raise your voice a little.”

Sousuke stands at Makoto’s side, watching him as he places a hand to his diaphragm. Makoto didn’t exactly have enough confidence to sing to himself in the mirror, just like Sousuke predicted, so in turn he’s trying his best to help him overcome that. Just without fully admitting it.

The lyrics, along with Sousuke’s adaptation sits in front of them on the counter. The two are still in the school’s second floor bathroom, going over the melody that Sousuke came up with last night, putting the final touches to the song before it’s complete. 

“Right… Raise my voice.” Makoto nods confidently, looking down at his fingers, clutching at the counter a little anxiously. “Got it.”

Sousuke is tempted to make a small remark to how he  _ hasn't _ got it. How he can tell that he’s still nervous and biting his tongue. But, he doesn't want to destroy any confidence that Makoto  _ does _ have, because he’s getting better. So he stays quiet.

“I'll count you in.” Sousuke says in a small mumble, seeing that Makoto has chosen to stay silent. He does hear him inhale, though. “One, two.”

There's a slight pause before Makoto does actually open his mouth.

“Sousuke…” He begins. It sounds like a slight pleading tone. He can't actually want to stop right now can he? They've barely sung anything… Sousuke in turn cocks an eyebrow at him questioningly. Makoto looks over his shoulder up at him, his brows curving upward. “Can you sing with me?”

Sousuke sighs tenderly through his nose. And though he sighs, he figures it only makes sense since he’s still getting over his confidence. He’s still willing to sing, in the least. Though… On the inside, he really likes singing with Makoto. His rough bass tones are a delicacy to sing over, and they make a pretty good duet. In his books anyway. That's not something he's willing to admit however, as much as he knows it’ll put a smile on Makoto’s face.

It's a little odd though, in an aspect. Because usually it's the other way around, Sousuke telling Makoto that he's going to sing with him. Now that Makoto is all of a sudden asking him suddenly, does that mean he's getting better or worse?   
  
It takes Sousuke a second to put two and two together and figure out that yes, it is getting worse. He ponders to himself. Is it the bathroom? The mirrors? He knows he's uncomfortable singing at himself in a mirror, so maybe there's an alternative for that... Or maybe-   


"Sousuke?"   
  
Oh. Snapping back to the matter at hand, Sousuke blinks at Makoto slowly before replying to him.    
  
"Yeah?" He says, his previous thoughts at a standstill.   
  
"...Everything okay?" Makoto asks with slight concern.    
  
He pulls that puppy-like face as he awaits an answer from Sousuke, who in turn immediately turns away from that face, looking at the mirror hurriedly, catching his reflection before embarrassingly looking in the opposite direction, towards the stalls.    
  
"Yeah, just... Makoto, do you feel more comfortable in here or in the club room?" Sousuke asks, brushing off anything else Makoto had to say. He looks back at him, sulking lightly.   
  
"I'm a lot more comfortable in the other room, in all fairness." Makoto nods slowly, looking down and pressing his blunt nails into the counter. "But, I do see what you're trying to do here." He nods again, slowly glancing up at Sousuke with that smile.   
  
Sousuke stares at his smile a little longer than he should, nodding back at him with a small hum. That same smile grows wider, and pushes his cheeks up, giving Makoto a slight cheeky look.

“Worried about me?” Makoto murmurs, obtaining a small glimmer in his eyes, as he watches Sousuke’s eyes widen to some extent, before they become calm again.

“No…” Sousuke utters, looking away again. He inhales gingerly through his nose, before studying Makoto again. How it’s so easy for him to take the upper hand in these situations, so _quickly_ too, is completely baffling to him.

“So then, what?” Makoto asks, his smile growing wider. Sousuke’s eyebrows lower over his eyes again, but it doesn’t have any affect on the boy in front of him.

“So then, let’s just sing, alright?” Sousuke, though kind of embarrassed, cuts in quite arrogantly. It still fuels the small smirk playing on Makoto’s lips. He knows he’s struck with the thought of Makoto always being so sweet and innocent, but from what he’s being seeing recently, what with all this teasing, he’s believing that there’s a lot underneath all of that innocence…

“Sure.” Makoto shrugs subtly, glancing down at his hands, still grabbing softly at the counter. He hasn’t looked at himself once in that mirror. Though, the wall above the counter is more or less  _ all  _ mirror. Does he have a fear of his reflection as well as a fear of singing? Sousuke can’t really think of anything to help him with _ that _ , if that’s the case. “So then…”

“Right.” Sousuke nods firmly. “I’ll count us in…” He mumbles under his breath, still heavy enough for Makoto to hear. Sousuke clears his throat, and breathes in slow. “ _ One, two, _ ” 

In the last second between Sousuke’s counting, and their fresh breath of air, Sousuke catches Makoto catching a quick glance at himself, a bold look on his face. Concentration.

_ “You’re a note in a glass frame,  
_ _ When it smashes I’ll feel pain, _ _   
_ _ ‘Cause they’ll touch and they’ll get, _ _   
_ __ The one where my heart is set,”

The tune that Sousuke has set to the lyrics is a little intense. It involves a lot of louder, more straining notes. Makoto seems to handle them well, surprisingly.

It takes Makoto a second after Sousuke begins to join in. Usually it would take him a bit longer. He starts smooth, before his raspy tone slides in quietly. It’s still really unusual to hear a rough voice, coming from such a soft person. 

Makoto has his hand to his diaphragm, his other still on the counter. His eyes, though they’re sternly looking ahead, he’s looking at his reflection in the sink. It distorts his image, not directly looking back at him. He focuses more on his own voice, and not Sousuke’s.

_ “And they’ll spend you the wrong way-” _

…

Silence. Makoto’s eyes widen in panic at hearing his own voice by itself again. The last of his words echo quietly. Sousuke has shut his mouth, and it’s just him, alone. But not in that sense. He knows that Sousuke is by his side, and hasn’t given up on him yet. He also knows that Sousuke is watching him. Waiting for what he wants, what they both want. Makoto swallows thickly.

_ “And they’ll spend you the wrong way, _ _   
_ _ You’ll never feel the sa-ame,” _

Sousuke smiles.

_ “I’ll be your loyalty card,  
_ _ Baby, _ _   
_ __ This is isn’t that hard,”

 

Makoto finishes softly, letting out a huge sigh of relief. In all honesty, he’s expecting a round of applause from Sousuke. What he just did there took an awful big chunk of his confidence. He’s rather embarrassed, both because of the fact that he had to watch himself sing all of those lines, and also because Sousuke had to hear them.

Sousuke himself lowers his head, closing his eyes with a comfortable smile.

“I knew you had it in you. Just had to bring it out of you.” Sousuke says, opening his eyes slowly, and making his way over toward where Makoto stands. To this, Makoto smiles brightly, turning and looking to Sousuke. The tips of his ears and the highlight of his cheek are a slight pink colour.

“Yeah… Maybe when you do these kinda things deliberately, they work for me.” Makoto nods. His heart is going a little crazy right now, with how he’s improving, and the fact that Sousuke seems to be getting… A little closer.

“Though,” Sousuke begins, leaning down, laying his elbows on the counter. He places his chin upon his hands. He looks up at Makoto with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Makoto feels his cheeks heating up already, they darken after hearing Sousuke’s low chuckle.  _ “I didn’t know I was a babe…” _

Makoto’s face falls completely. His eyes broaden and so does his mouth. Of course he had to say something about that.

“S-stop it!” Makoto cries out, shoulders deflating as well as his mood. Still, it’s a good mood at that. He pouts at Sousuke, who turns his head away to let out a small laugh. “How many times do I have to tell you it’s  _ not about you!” _

“I can’t help it. Like I say, you’re fun to tease.” Sousuke shrugs, standing up straight. He still dons his smile, which is always a good thing to see.    
  
Makoto looks at Sousuke, pursing his lips together. Sousuke’s teasing is always embarrassing, but secretly fun. He enjoys watching Sousuke’s obvious attempts at hitting on him, or trying to be smooth.

“I’m making my new song a break-up song after this…” Makoto murmurs, turning his head back towards the sink. This perks Sousuke’s interest, and widens the smirk on his face.

_ “You would never.”  _ Sousuke says in that deep bass voice. Makoto smiles lightly, not looking back. Seeing this, Sousuke continues. “So, you’re working on a new song already?”

Makoto’s eyes widen. Whilst that’s true, he really doesn’t want to use it for the band. It's more for his own personal use. But then again, what would he ever do with it?

“Yeah.” Makoto nods quietly, regretting it slightly, now that he’s opened up a new door.

“I'm impressed. What's this one about?” Sousuke replies, sounding genuinely interested. He turns around and leans back against the counter comfortably, looking directly across to Makoto.

“I'm not telling you. It's a surprise.” Makoto utters, trying to guide Sousuke’s train of thought elsewhere.

“Is it another love song?” Sousuke raises an eyebrow at him in question, Makoto isn’t even embarrassed this time, he just flashes Sousuke an unamused face, which makes his lips quiver with a snicker.

“No.” Makoto groans.

“Is it actually about me this time?” Sousuke’s grin is about as big as it can get at this point. Makoto feels that sudden burn approaching his cheeks again, despite that, he manages to keep his straight expression.

“Can’t we just sing again?” Makoto pleads, but not exactly in a pleading tone. It's more forceful. 

“We have time. I thought you’d let me get to know you better.” Sousuke mocks him, using the same tone Makoto is. It’s funny to Makoto how he could just say one thing that can flip Sousuke’s entire mood around. But he choses not to say it.

“I- I am…” Makoto swallows. “I just, I don’t want to give any details about it away until I’m happy with it.”

“So there _is_ one… I was actually kidding at first.” Sousuke shrugs. Makoto’s eyes almost fly out of his head. Of course he had to go and say something like that. Of course.

“No you weren’t-”

“You’re gonna have to sing it to me, so I’m gonna find out one way or  _ another _ ~” Sousuke continues in a sing-song. There’s no way Makoto is going to just outright tell him. The lyrics inside that notebook are for his eyes only.

“What if I don’t want to?” Makoto replies, lowering his head and sounding a little miffed. Sousuke tilts his head at him, looking surprised. Though, if he’s just wearing that expression for fun is unclear to Makoto.

“Then, I’m gonna have to make you.” Sousuke says calmly, before getting slightly closer. Makoto turns to him fully. There’s gotta be something he can say before this gets any worse. 

Suddenly, it hits him.

“Your attempts at hitting on me are awful, Sousuke.” Makoto puts it bluntly.

Sousuke looks panicked for a split second. Before calmly and quickly maintaining his previous persona. He looks off to the side and gives a small huff.

“What makes you say that?” He laughs, though his laughter is drawn short when he meets Makoto’s serious face. His eyes glare at him, though not too much, and his eyebrows are hung directly over them. His lips form a straight line. 

Sousuke blinks once.

It takes Makoto a lot of effort to keep that face for a couple more seconds, before he gives in, letting his natural smile free, and letting out a small laugh. Now it’s Sousuke’s turn to wear that expression, as he looks away from Makoto.

“I really don’t know why you’re trying. I mean,” Makoto finishes silently, giving a tiny laugh. He can’t look at Sousuke as he says his next line. “You already won me over a while ago...”

Hearing that from Makoto, and hearing it being said so softly is enough to put Sousuke at ease. He mentally fights off any sweat that he feels beading on his forehead as he tries to figure out what to say next.

“So… Is it an angry song?” Sousuke says, a filler for whatever he had planned to say before Makoto started being so… Makoto.

Makoto blinks at him in disbelief. But then again, it sounds like a genuine question this time. He supposes that he better had give him some sort of answer, before they run out of time, and have to return to their everyday school lives.

Thinking about it that way, it’s funny how this is kind of like a different life. His mornings are so energetic, and his relationship with Sousuke behind the scenes is so much more exciting than it is in the afternoons.

“Well, not exactly.” Makoto shrugs, smiling softly. Sousuke looks down at the floor, before pushing the question a little further in experimentation.

“A sad song?” He tilts his head in curiosity. Makoto sighs quietly through his nose. So he wants to play  _ that _ game now. He really is intent on finding out more about this song.

“No…”

“Not exactly angry? So… A pissed off song?” Sousuke says, gaining his own smile again. Makoto rolls his eyes lightly at him. He’s pretty sure that being angry and being pissed off come under the same category.

“That’s not it, either. It’s more…”

“Annoyed?” Sousuke pipes up again.

“Kinda, I mean-”

“Sexy?” 

The sudden  _ husky _  tone to Sousuke’s voice surprises Makoto more than anything. He should have been expecting it, but at the same time, it always surprises him when it just appears, so close to him. Does Sousuke really expect him to write a…  _ Sexy _ song?

“Sousuke!” Makoto squeaks, his mouth opening slightly as his eyes widen drastically. His small blush from before manages to catch up with his current expression. Sousuke laughs again, assuming he has the upper hand in this situation.

“That’s totally it.” Sousuke smirks, and now they’re back at square one.

“It is not! I wouldn’t sing about it, so why would I write it?” Makoto snaps back, standing a little closer to Sousuke in hopes that he leaves it at that.

“Then, let me see it.” Sousuke says simply. Makoto freezes again.

“No, you’ll-”

“See how horny you are?”

Makoto looks at Sousuke, completely appalled, and all Sousuke has in return is a tiny rumble of a laugh that he’s been holding back for a while. 

“I’m not…” Makoto purses his lips together again, letting out a small groan before almost whispering;  _ “H-horny…” _

“Jesus, can’t even bring yourself to say horny?” Sousuke chuckles again. Makoto glares at him genuinely this time. Sousuke can’t help but think it’s cute. “What do you call those things on top of a goat’s head?”

Makoto stares at him flatly. That has to be a joke. He blinks hard.

“Horns.”

“Correct.” Sousuke smiles, lowering his head at Makoto, before opening his mouth again. “And what do you call thinking about Sousuke at night?-”

_ “Frustrating!” _ Makoto barks out, looking up at Sousuke with a sour expression. Sousuke’s eyebrows raise. So do Makoto’s, followed by a hand clasped over his mouth.  _ Oh no. _ That was all too real. Sousuke is probably just trying to figure out his feelings, and he shouldn’t be acting like this. “S-Sousuke, I’m sorry I-”

“Don’t apologise.” Sousuke shakes his head, laughing quietly again. “You think shit like that is enough to piss me off?” He says in a joking attitude. Makoto’s horrified look softens. He definitely is a tough shell to crack, in some aspects. Sousuke looks back at him warmly. “That doesn't bother me. I think you need to get to know me a little more, too.”

“I guess you’re right.” Makoto takes a while to reply, and it's a quiet reply at that.

“So, frustrating? Is that the theme?” Sousuke carries on, as if nothing happened between the two of them. Makoto blinks at him for a moment before looking away again.

“Not specifically.” Makoto mutters, giving Sousuke a slight shrug.

“It’s about me. You can tell me.” Sousuke says, closing his eyes and leaning back against the counter again. “If there’s one thing about you that I’ve learnt, it’s that you’re hard to read until you really get into it.” He continues, returning the shrug. 

Makoto’s weak smile strengthens at that. It’s kind of funny since Makoto has always thought of himself as an open book, but Sousuke’s saying that he’s hard to read until he’s really into it? Until he’s really… Into _ him?  _

His smile becomes genuine, as he watches Sousuke slowly freeze in place, almost like he’s just realised what he said. 

“K-kinda like, uh…” Sousuke stutters. Makoto’s never seen that before. Sousuke is always one for saying that Makoto is cute, but honestly, it’s more or less the other way around right now. “Like, how you’re sweet and stuff, and then-” He pauses to swallow quickly. Makoto is really struggling to keep his laughter in, feeling better already. Sousuke shakes his head. “And then you go about writing your little songs, digging at me behind my back.”

“I’m not digging at you!” Makoto cries, shaking his head as he meets Sousuke’s eyes again. “And it’s not behind your back, we’re both here right now and you know what I’ve written.”   


Sousuke’s eyes glisten. He’s thought of something new. Makoto doesn’t know if he’s looking forward to hearing it.

“I  _ know _ what you’ve written? So it  _ is _ a sexy song…” He cracks, retaining his smirk once more. Makoto lowers his eyebrows at him again, not letting him win.

“Sousuke, _ please-” _

“Is that the first line?” Sousuke cuts in quickly, before happily enjoying the sound of Makoto’s tiny yelp and gasp. He laughs over him as he stumbles to get any words back together.

“I don’t believe you…” Makoto grunts, turning back to face himself in the mirror. Luckily, his face isn’t too red.

“Gonna have to if you wanna get with me.” Sousuke shrugs, which is fairly surprising to Makoto. He hasn’t mentioned anything about their relationship all day, and the only one who has is Sousuke. He’s really thinking about it, huh… That makes Makoto happy.

“You’re willing?” Makoto asks, with a hoping smile. Sousuke freezes up again, but not as bad as last time. Makoto snickers as he turns his head away.

_ “I didn’t say that…”  _ He says in an almost whisper.

Makoto’s little snickers turn into a genuine laugh, watching Sousuke’s movements through his creasing eyes. He continues to look away before slowly gazing back at Makoto with a tiny smile. 

This really is a happy moment here for Makoto. He has the feeling that he knows Sousuke’s feelings for him, they’re genuine and sincere. He wouldn’t be so cruel to be making this all up and playing along with him, would he? 

That thought completely disappears as Makoto feels himself getting a little closer toward him, and he doesn’t back away at all.

He feels a sudden tension between them, but it’s not bad. It’s kinda as if he were in some sort of dream-state right now. Even in these slightly dimming lights of the school’s bathroom, he can still see a brighter light in Sousuke’s eyes. 

Sousuke’s smile widens minimally before said eyes roll calmly, and close, tilting his head forwards.

Ignoring Makoto’s pure and horrid corny lyrics that still play in the back of their heads, the two of them press their lips together naturally.

Makoto huffs happily through his nose, tickling, tantalizing, the skin of Sousuke’s upper lip. Sousuke doesn’t separate from him as he turns his body a little to meet his lips more comfortably, his lips topping Makoto’s.

Instinctively, Makoto slowly brings his arms up to rest over Sousuke’s shoulders, whilst Sousuke’s hands have other ideas. They start stiffly on Makoto’s back, different from where he usually places them, on his hips. He seems to realise that, as his hands slowly, and still stiffly, travel down his back.

The feeling is kind of alluring to Makoto, feeling Sousuke’s hands moving slowly down his body. Though, it’s not as soothing as he expected it to be. He needs to relax.

With that in mind, Makoto pulls away for a short moment, his lips and Sousuke’s still touching. The air between them is hot, and both of their eyes are still lightly closed. Makoto goes in for the second time, more gradually, and softly. 

Sousuke’s hands sit more comfortably on his hips this time. Makoto smiles against his lips as they move so gently. Though, Sousuke still seems kind of tense. He can tell by the way he’s breathing a little shakily through his nose, and his hands are still kind of rigid. Like they’re straining themselves from something.

Makoto tilts his head to the side, both in question and to allow their kiss to move a little more freely. He’s surprised that Sousuke hasn’t pulled off yet. And at the fact that he eventually tilts his head in the other direction in agreement.

Their lips overlap again, and again, their breathing getting quicker, getting _ hungrier _ , though their tongues stay in their mouths.

Makoto feels Sousuke’s fingers painstakingly treading their way south, and it hits Makoto what he’s trying to do. Sousuke’s lips form a tight frown as Makoto lets out a tiny chuckle, tickling his lips again. It feels good.

Makoto moves one of his arms from Sousuke’s shoulder, to slowly make its way down to where Sousuke’s hand is. He takes his wrist into his grip, and lowers Sousuke’s hand so that it sits directly atop of his ass.

Sousuke makes a tiny noise at that, and his breathing stops for a second.

Makoto lets go with a small hum, happy that Sousuke doesn’t let go either. He puts his arms back over his shoulder, and they resume.

Sousuke really is like some sort of broken traffic light, with all of these mixed signals. It’s kind of enticing, in a way, like one big mystery for him and him only to solve.

Hmm. That’s another possible lyric for his new song, which is _ not  _ sexy. Makoto laughs again at the thought, though.

“What’s funny?” Sousuke asks lowly, and obviously a little embarrassed when they break apart.

Makoto turns to glance at their reflection, catching his breath quietly, as does Sousuke. Seeing them so close is one thing, but seeing the colour of his face is another thing. He looks absolutely horrified, but doesn’t say a thing. He feels Makoto shaking with hidden laughter besides him.

“ _ Shut up.  _ It’s your fault, you’re just better than me at keeping it cool.” Sousuke blurts out, turning back, avoiding any reflections, which is a little hard since the majority of the bathroom reflects something.

Makoto shakes his head, calming down.

“C’mon, let’s go practice back in the other room. I don’t like it in here.” Makoto smiles, tilting his head in the direction of the door and taking a couple steps back. Surprisingly, Sousuke doesn't follow him. 

“Me neither… You go ahead. I actually need to,  _ uh _ , take a piss, so...” Sousuke mutters again, not looking Makoto in the eye.

Makoto laughs at his crudeness, but also at his flustered attitude. He nods with a small hum, turning on his heel and making a swift exit from the toilets. He has to laugh again when he hears the sound of the taps running behind him. 

But that’s not the only thing he hears. A sudden buzz comes from the room in front of him, putting a straight look on Makoto’s face. Is someone in there? Well, he knows that the door is unlocked, as he left his things in there; his blazer, his, bags and his… Lyric book.

With widened eyes, Makoto hurries forward, opening the door, allowing the buzzing sounds to get louder, and then come to a sudden end.

“Makoto-senpai?”

Makoto blinks quickly at Rei, sat down on a pulled out chair with his bass sat upon his knee. His bass is still shining, obviously in good condition. Besides him is a small yellow amplifier. It’s kind of ugly, if Makoto were to say so. It suits Rei, though.

“Rei…” Makoto mutters back, a little surprised.

“M-my apologies. I thought today that I would come up early in order to get some extra practice in, as our performance is coming up.” Rei says, looking back at Makoto with a sorrowful frown. He moves to stand, but Makoto is quick enough to hold out a hand to prevent him from doing so. 

“Don’t worry about it. That’s understandable.” Makoto nods, giving Rei his trademark smile. He’s super glad that Rei is self-willing to come in and get some practice, but at the same time, is he just supposed to go back to Sousuke in the bathroom before he comes in, too? 

Oh God. Not with that burning red face of his. With that in mind, Makoto looks directly up at his spot at the table, thankfully seeing his things still there, untouched. Rei must notice this too, as he turns his head in the same direction.

“Oh, yes. I did see your things in here, I haven’t touched them, that’s a promise.” Rei adds. Makoto lets out a small laugh, slightly nervous as he walks over towards his belongings. The lyric book is shut closed, exactly how he left it. He thinks.

“It’s okay. Thank you for looking after them, I guess.” Makoto chirps happily, moving to gather his book, and his pencils into his hands, a little rushed. The second he takes the book into his hands, he hears the door opening.

_“You_ _ha-”_ Sousuke begins in a slightly annoyed tone, before too noticing the other person in the room. There’s a small silence in which Makoto does genuinely feel a little sorry for Rei, having his personal space invaded. “Oh.”

“Sousuke-senpai, please excuse me. I just thought I’d-”

“Nah, don’t apologise.” Sousuke brushes him off, closing the door behind him, and proceeds to stroll his way over toward Makoto, who looks closely at his face, which is slightly wet, as are the tips of his hair. Makoto smiles softly at that. “Makoto knows what he’s doing. You’re not a worry to us.”

Makoto can’t help but give Sousuke a bit of a scolding look at that. Though he meant no harm, it did come off as slightly rude. Sousuke just shrugs his shoulders at Makoto in reply, not having anything else to say. That is, before he spots the book in Makoto’s hands.

“How is your bass coming along, Rei?” Makoto asks him, making him feel at ease again. Rei choses not to face them, and instead stays hunched over his instrument.

“Rin-senpai gave me a simple bass line to follow. I can easily find the notes, as I’ve been studying.” Rei begins, still trying to figure out whatever problem he has. Sousuke looks at him oddly. What part of playing a bass involves studying? “But what I cannot do, is put it together. I can’t play as accurately or smoothly as Nanase-senpai…”

As Rei describes his troubles, Sousuke’s hand slowly makes its way across the table, in the direction of Makoto’s lyric book, his eyes darting between Makoto and the book itself. However, without even looking, Makoto is able to place his hand above Sousuke’s, holding it down and not allowing it to move.

“Haru’s a little more professional than the rest of us…” Makoto gives a small giggle at that. “You’re a beginner, and you shouldn’t be worrying about sounding like the rest of us. It’s your instrument, and you make it sound like you.” He nods.

Sousuke turns to Makoto, face softening at his words. He suddenly winces as Rei attempts to do what he has just described, but it sounds completely horrible.  _ He’s not using enough pressure. _

“I suppose that’s correct…” Rei utters, still trying to put his piece in order. 

Makoto glances over Rei one more time before looking back at Sousuke a little more sympathetically.

_ “You can play.”  _ He mouths. Sousuke lowers his eyes at him, shaking his head.

_ “No.”  _ Sousuke mouths back at him. 

_ “Please?” _ Makoto replies.  _ “He could really use your help.” _

_ “He’s fine.”  _ Sousuke continues.

_ “I know what I’m doing.”  _ Makoto says, mimicking Sousuke’s words from earlier.

Makoto does have a point, but he’s not here to help Rei. His intention was to do this purely just for Rin’s sake, and now Makoto is added to that list. It can’t just keep getting longer and longer, can it? 

What makes the situation worse is that Makoto’s pulling that puppy face again. Sousuke doesn’t give in too soon, and instead glares back at Makoto, until Makoto mirrors his expression too. How long is he going to keep this up for?

Rei’s harsh playing in the background isn’t making this any better either. It’s Hell to his ears.

And eventually, he does give in. Sousuke pulls away, rolling his eyes at Makoto as he moves backwards towards where Rei sits.

Makoto quickly gives him a warm smile, before playfully blowing a kiss at him. The taller replies by pretending to catch the kiss, turning his clenched fist and protruding his middle finger at Makoto.

Makoto places a hand to his mouth to keep him from laughing out loud.

“You’d be better standing. And you’re not using enough pressure.” Sousuke casually says outright. Rei stops playing, and looks up at Sousuke, confused. Sousuke doesn’t say a thing more, and watches as Rei stands from his seat. His strap keeps a tight hold of the bass, and it’s at a suitable height for him. He probably studied that, too.

“Pressure?” Rei repeats. Sousuke bites his tongue.

“On your fretboard. Press down harder. And don’t pluck with your thumb.” He continues to instruct him.

Makoto sits down at the table, continuing to write out the changes that they made to their song, atop of Sousuke’s adjustments. He smiles up at the other two, but more or less at Sousuke. He looks like he’s never been in this situation before, and though he’s being a little brash, it’s kind of funny. It’s cute, too. 

“Press down harder… And I use my index and middle finger to pluck, yes?” Rei asks in short confirmation, to which Sousuke just gives him a simple hum.

“Fretboard. Centre your thumb with your index finger.” Sousuke adds quickly, eyes scanning over his form. He certainly knows what he’s doing. It takes a second for Rei to get comfortable in position, before giving it a go. 

He plucks with a finger, and the sound is clean.

Rei makes a tiny gasp of surprise, as does Makoto. Sousuke casually looks away, not thinking much of it.

_“Ha!_ I’ve mastered it already!” Rei lets out, proudly, placing a hand to his chest and posing dramatically. Sousuke raises an eyebrow at him oddly again, to which Rei ignores, a little too much in his own space right now.

Makoto laughs quietly from the table, managing to catch Sousuke’s attention. Makoto smiles at him brightly.

It takes a little moment before Sousuke smiles genuinely back at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TA DAAAAA
> 
> I can't make any promises about my next update, but I can say that it WONT be this long again. I hope u all enjoyed what this chapter brought you !! bUTT ACTION
> 
> YEET
> 
> and it wouldn't be very karu of me to tell u all that it's like,,, almost 3am so uh,, bYE
> 
> \---
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions regarding this fic and its updates! I love hearing your feedback!
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	34. Silent Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto decides he has a few things to tell his best friend.
> 
> [did i mention i drew soumako porn](http://karumello.tumblr.com/post/158872530322/runs)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yEET this update speed is??? not that bad ?? its bad but ?? not three months?? can i have a round of applause??
> 
> anYwho i had a lot of fun writing this chapter, so I hope y'all like this one !! I get the feeling a few of y'all were waiting for this chapter tbh.
> 
> thank u to everyone for their patience and sweet comments !!

_ The room is filled with applause, a large piano stands centre-stage, shining,  the focus of everything. It has a golden glow around it, one that glistens over the ebony instrument. A young girl, stood tall, takes a bow, and the applause gets louder. _

_ Makoto looks out at the stage wide-eyed, and though tears threaten to spill, he does a good job of keeping it together. He brushes his reddening knuckles together, trying to calm himself down. _

_ He hasn’t said anything in awhile, but Haruka knows all that he wants to say. _

_ “Makoto…” He mumbles, and frightens the poor boy ahead of him, making him jump. He watches as Makoto swallows quite thickly, blinks quickly, and looks back at his best friend over his shoulder. _

_ “Y-yes?” He squeaks out, rubbing his lips together. _

_ “Are you alright?” Haruka asks, though he knows both the answer, and the answer that Makoto is going to give him. _

_ “Mm!” Makoto nods, smiling as usual, a little too hesitantly. His knuckles are looking a bit sore, and his breathing is slightly quicker. He looks at Haruka a split second longer before looking back out to the stage. _

_ Haruka’s brow deepens. _

_ “You don’t have to do this.” Haruka follows up with. Makoto looks down at his feet, before continuing to look up. “You can just go home, I’ll tell them.” _

_ “No, I-it’s okay!” Makoto pleads, his voice a little shaky now.  _

_ The stage is empty, and the room falls silent. Makoto bares his teeth in a sudden shiver. _

_ Haruka reaches out and clutches onto Makoto’s arm, causing the taller boy to look back at him, scared. Haruka looks up at him, with a strong look on his face. His mouth is tight shut, his eyebrows fall softly, but his eyes are sharp. _

_ It’s okay. Let’s just go home. _

_ Makoto steps forward, and Haruka’s grip on his arm loosens. _

_ The rooms fills with applause again. Haruka’s arm falls flat by his side, as his eyes widen. _

\---

“It’s kinda crazy when you think about it, huh?” Makoto asks with a small laugh. He sits back on the cushion, wearing a bright smile as usual, as he fills out his english book with structured sentences.

The sweet, roast nut scent of barley tea seeps through the room, steaming away besides Makoto’s pen. 

“What do you mean?” Haruka asks, sat on the other side of the table. By nature, his guitar is sat atop of his crossed legs, attached by a black leather strap to his body.

It’s Thursday night, exactly six days until their first live show. Haruka and Makoto sit alone in the smaller’s house, Makoto getting some homework done, and Haruka playing his guitar. Rin would be here, too, if it weren’t for all the work he had on his back.

“This entire thing.” Makoto smiles, looking up and across at Haruka, who looks back at him even more confused than before. “I never thought that me, you and Rin would ever actually end up being in a band.” He finishes with another chuckle, tilting his head with a sweet grin.

Haruka looks off to the side.

“He used to pester us all the time… I guess he just won that time.” Haruka replies, making Makoto chuckle again. “You’re alright with being in it, aren’t you?” He asks. Makoto glances across at him once more, a little surprised by his question.

“Me? Of course.” Makoto nods happily. “I’m extremely happy, we all get to be together, and we’ve made new friends already.” 

Haruka gives him the same look as before, though he agrees on the inside. He can’t exactly call the other three members of the band his friends yet, Nagisa seems the closest out of them to becoming his friend, even though he’s not exactly who he’s known the longest out of the three.

“What about you?” Makoto asks with a little caution. He knows that getting Haruka in the band in the first place was a bit of a risk, and maybe he might not even want to answer this.

“It’s okay…” Haruka replies calmly.

Makoto looks at him a moment longer before letting out a happy huff, smiling at him again.

“You like it, don’t you?” He asks in a small tease. Haruka looks back at him with a small angry pout.

“Stop it. And stop smiling at me.” Haruka grumbles, looking away still with his annoyed expression.

“You know I can’t help that.” Makoto says, putting his pen to the paper again, after almost forgetting where he was up to. He writes out everyday english phrases again and again, half-trying to get them to stick inside his head, and half-trying to just hurry up and get this over with. In all fairness, he just wants to listen to Haruka’s music again.

He’s then reminded of the time Rin told him he used to be like that with Sousuke. How the two of them would hide away in Rin’s room and pretend to be rockstars. Makoto smiles fondly at the thought. Now that he knows Sousuke sung the entire time, he thinks about what his voice would have sounded like back then.

Haruka observes Makoto a little longer, before positioning his hands again over his guitar.

“Makoto.” Haruka calls out, after looking down at his guitar for a second.

“Hmm?”

“What are you smiling at?” He asks, and it puts Makoto off.

Makoto lifts his head again, catching the slight concerned look on Haruka’s face. He tries to ease said expression by smiling back at him.

“You.” He says, though it falls flat. Haruka stares a bit longer, before looking back at his guitar again.

“There’s something else.” Haruka says, and it’s glaringly obvious that it’s true. Makoto chews his lip for a moment before opening his mouth.

“And our band.” He replies, happy to see Haruka nodding at that.

But it’s kind of odd that he doesn’t immediately go to play his guitar again. Usually he’d constantly be itching to play. These pauses are making Makoto feel a little odd, a little concerned. Reading his thoughts again, there's something else he wants to ask.

Haruka stares at the book in front of Makoto, with something new on his mind. Though, it isn’t exactly  _ new… _

“Yamazaki. He’s treating you well?”

Ah, there it is. Makoto was expecting Haruka to ask him about that, seeing as they’re still not friends, and Makoto is. But of course, Haruka has every right to be curious about their relationship, since nobody in the music club apart from he and Sousuke knows what goes on in the morning.

He feels a bit guilty at that.

“Mm!” Makoto hums cheerfully. “I really wish he’d let you all hear him sing. Sousuke has an amazing voice, but I can tell he’s still a little embarrassed about it.”

Haruka’s eyebrows lower as Makoto calls him by his first name.

“You’re probably better.” Haruka mutters, making Makoto surprised again.

“Honestly? I’m really not. He sounds so professional.” Makoto says, trying to shake off the idea of him being a better singer than Sousuke. “Are you saying that because you’ve heard me sing now?” Makoto continues, gaining a small smirk when he sees Haruka’s face look briefly shocked.

“No.” He says quickly.

Makoto giggles softly at that.

“Y’know, sometimes I think you and Sousuke have quite a few things in common.” Makoto chuckles, and instantly regrets saying it after seeing the horrified look on Haruka’s face. Wow. He really dislikes him  _ that _ much?

“What do you mean?” Haruka says again, with a bit of a warning tone.

“Like… How you can both be so quiet?” Makoto says, blatantly unsure. Haruka’s face stiffens. “Maybe it’s a trait. Maybe you have an amazing voice too, Haru-chan.” Makoto chirps, trying to ease the situation, making Haruka grunt.

“I told you to stop calling me that. And I don’t sing.” Haruka growls. Makoto laughs.

“You should sing for us one day.” He adds.

“I told you, I don’t sing!” Haruka replies a little louder, only making Makoto laugh more. “Annoying…”

“I’d really like to hear you sing one day, though.” Makoto says, writing out the same sentence a fourth time, accidentally. He moves to grab his rubber, but is met with the sight of his tea. With small surprise, he puts his pen down and moves to pick up his drink again, taking a sip before it gets too cold.

“I want to hear Yamazaki sing first. You should record him.”

Makoto almost spits out what he takes in. He chokes as he swallows, before wiping at his mouth and glancing back at Haruka.

“I- I can’t do that! He’d be mad!” Makoto cries out, only making Haruka look angrier.

“He did it to you. It’s only fair.” He mutters.

Oh. That  _ does _ make sense, actually. Haruka sounds like he’s thought this out before.

“But… He did it so that I’d be comfortable.” Makoto says, in small defence of Sousuke.

“He forced you to do it.” Haruka adds. Makoto really doesn’t want to have this conversation anymore.

“It wasn’t exactly force… He just… Surprised me.” Makoto shrugs. Haruka’s face falls flat.

“Still. I think you should get some payback.” Haruka mutters under his breath, but Makoto manages to hear them, as there isn’t any music to cover it up, as there usually would be when he’s sat with his guitar in his lap. Makoto smiles at that.

“Payback? You know I’m not that kind of person, Haru.” Makoto says at ease, giving Haruka a wavering smile.

“Then I’ll do it. You bring him in, tell him to sing, and I’ll record him.”   
  
“Haru, no!”   
  
“Why not?” Haruka says, defeated. Makoto sighs lightly, moving to pick up his rubber and erase the mistake he made earlier. The mistake that isn’t this conversation.

“Because… He hasn’t done anything bad to you, Haru. And technically, he hasn’t done anything bad to me either. He’s not the most polite guy on earth, but he does give me the occasional compliment.” Makoto argues lightly, showing a small beam.

Haruka looks away. Makoto has a point, but still… There’s something  _ off _ about him.

“Like what?” Haruka asks after a small moment of silence. Makoto huffs in amusement quietly. He’s probably interested in what Sousuke would have to say. 

“Like… Hmm…” Makoto pauses to think. What  _ was _ the last compliment that Sousuke gave him? Well… He can’t tell Haru that Sousuke calls him  _ ‘cute’ _ , can he? God, he couldn’t even tell Sousuke that. 

Makoto can literally feel Haruka getting impatient from across the table.

“Well, the last time I sung, I was a little nervous…” Makoto admits, despite not really wanting to, in front of Haruka of all people. “So he encouraged me. He told me he knew I had it in me.”

“That’s not really a compliment.” Haruka immediately follows up. Makoto groans a little out loud.

_ “Haruu! _ C’mon…” Makoto whines, though he’s happy to hear the little amused puff that Haruka gives out. “Just give him a chance… I’m sure I’ve said this before, but I’ve got the feeling that you two could get along nicely.” 

Makoto says that, but is he positive that two people with similar personalities can get along so well?

The rest of the night continues, Makoto finishes his work, and eventually has to force Haruka off of his guitar to finish his own. And much to Haruka’s dismay, he finishes his work, and without Rin being here, his guitar is dirty. Well, to him anyway. 

Makoto goes off to change into his nightwear as Haruka cleans up. He washes out their bowls of steamed rice, teriyaki and mackerel, and Makoto’s god-forbidden attempt of said meal. 

The two decide to play a few video games before they go to sleep. But not for too long, as it’s a school night. They play a rhythm game that Haruka bought out of sheer impulse recently. The objective of the game is simply to hit the buttons at the correct time, to the beat of the song. Both of them prove to be very good at it, but Makoto struggles a little when it comes to the more upbeat songs.

Makoto smiles again as he plays. Sometimes he misses these nights with Haruka, when it’s just the two of them doing what they love best. He wishes that Rin was here, it’s a lot quieter without their bickering throughout, but at the same time, just the music is enough for them both.

Haruka seems to be feeling the same way, too. Just spending some quiet time with his best friend is enough to make him happy.

The game comes to an end, with Haruka coming out on top, of course. The two take a break from their game, eventually ending up in turning the game off altogether. 

“The futon’s in the cupboard… I’ll get it out for you.” Haruka says, as Makoto just about settles down on Haruka’s bed. Usually they’d just share the bed, but with Makoto getting taller, and Haruka’s habit of burrowing himself and taking the entire blanket, they’ve decided to go their separate ways.

“Oh, sure. Thank you!” Makoto nods politely at him. He watches as Haruka walks over towards the cupboard, retrieving the thick white futon. He manages to pull it out with ease, and lay it down on the floor quite close to his bed.

“Are you leaving early?” Haruka asks off the bat. Makoto blinks at him, confused. Why would he need to leave early?

“Huh?”   
  
“You usually leave early to meet with Yamazaki.” Haruka replies, giving Makoto a slight confused glance. Makoto blinks again.  _ Oh. _

“Oh! I uh… I’ll send him a message.” Makoto nods, taking his phone out from his bag, unlocking it and going to his messages. He seems to be kind of secretive about it...

Haruka slowly moves to sit back on his bed, slightly further back than Makoto sits. He tilts his head quietly, looking through the gap between Makoto’s hip and his arm, getting a clear view of his phone’s screen.

What he doesn’t expect to see, is the sudden stream of texts back and forth between the two. Haruka’s eyes widen slightly as he shuffles closer, scaring Makoto a little, feeling the bed dip a bit when he jumps suddenly.

“You talk a lot.” He notes. Makoto can sense something off with his words. He locks his phone quickly and looks back at Haruka, surprised.

“Not really.” Makoto shrugs. “It’s usually something about our practice. We don’t really talk about much else.” He says, quietly praying in his head that Haruka doesn’t say what Makoto thinks he wants to say. Judging by the lightly sour look on his face, Haruka probably wants to see the messages.

And he’s right. Haruka wants to ask Makoto to show him the messages, but he respects his privacy and goes by his truth.

“If you go early tomorrow, I want to come with you.” Haruka says nonchalantly, surprising Makoto again. The only reason Haruka would come to their early morning practice is probably to get revenge on Sousuke somehow, is Makoto’s perspective.

“I… Sure. I’ll let him know.” Makoto smiles. On that note, it would genuinely be fun to have the two finally interact with each other, and ease this tension between them. He brings his messages back up and texts Sousuke again.

_ [Sousuke, are we meeting early tomorrow?] _

_ [Haru’s coming with me. I think he wants to know you, too!] _

Makoto hits the send button with a small smile, hoping that Sousuke agrees to it. Even if he doesn’t for some reason, Makoto is still bringing Haruka, too. He doesn’t even know if Sousuke will be awake right now. Though, he usually is around these hours...

After sending the message, Makoto stands from Haruka’s bed and decides to settle down on his futon, but not close his eyes just yet. He places his phone close to him, so that he’ll hear it when Sousuke gets back to him. Haruka’s window is high over his bed, so Makoto can’t see the moon from down here. It’s not that bad, as he knows he’s not alone.

Haruka seems to be settling down in his bed too, atop of his blanket. He switches off the lights and lays down, allowing the darkness to consume them enough. It’s relaxing, as tense as it sounds. 

Haruka remembers back when Makoto would be too scared to sleep in the dark. He would usually cling onto him, or his blanket if they were in separate beds. It was either that, or his mother would pack his night light into his bag whenever he stayed at Haruka’s house. Makoto would probably get all embarrassed and angry if Haruka brought that up now.

Makoto closes his eyes and sighs happily, attracting Haruka’s attention. He lays close to the edge of his bed, so that he can see Makoto, wondering if he’s thinking about it, too.

“I’m not scared, Haru.” Makoto chuckles softly, making Haruka smile weakly. The two are silent a little longer, each with their own things on their mind. 

Haruka has a flurry of their childhood memories play out in his mind as he rolls back onto his back. He thinks about the days when Makoto would be so naive and innocent towards anything that happened. Not that anything had changed much since then. One memory sticks out in particular.

“Makoto.” Haruka says, looking up at his ceiling. Makoto opens his eyes and looks up at Haruka’s bed, not being able to see Haruka himself with him being a little higher up. Haruka takes Makoto’s silence as a yes, and continues. “Are you okay with this?”

Makoto’s eyes widen, looking up at the bed still. He doesn’t even question what Haruka means, as he knows exactly what he’s talking about.

“Of course. It’s been a long while since then.” He replies, a faint smile playing on his lips as he too looks up at the night sky’s reflection on the ceiling.

Haruka moves to the end of his bed again, looking down softly at Makoto. Though Makoto looks happy, Haruka can see right through him. He knows it’s not all the truth.

“You don’t have to do this.” Haruka says simply. Makoto blinks and looks at him worriedly.

“Haru, I’m okay. Besides, I signed up for this.” He says, making his smile more genuine. Haruka sees his own concerned reflection in Makoto’s eyes. “And, I have you with me. And Rin, and Nagisa, Rei and Sousuke.” He continues, his smile getting wider.

Haruka’s eyebrow twitches at his mention of Sousuke.

“Whatever you say.” He nods, turning and lying on his back again. Makoto lets out a small breath of joy. He’s glad that Haruka is concerned, and he knows that he’ll always be there. 

Makoto suddenly feels the need to say something. Something he knows that he should have told Haru a long time ago. Something that’s been biting ever since the day Rin found out. It’s such a sentimental moment, a good moment for things like these. Maybe he should tell him now.

“Haru… I need to tell you something.” Makoto says, slightly above a whisper. Though, it changes the air around them, as Haruka turns around to face him for the third time. And doesn’t say anything. But he looks at Makoto, his face the most confused Makoto has seen in a while.

“It’s okay to be scared, Mako-”

“No, it’s not that, It’s…” Makoto cuts him off with a small laugh, taking a small pause before sighing quietly again. He sits up slightly, seeing that Haruka does the same in the corner of his eye. “It’s… About me.” Makoto nods slowly, not making any eye contact with Haruka at all.

Haruka cocks an eyebrow at him.

“I’ve been wanting to tell you for a while, actually.” He says, looking down at the blanket, fiddling about with his hands underneath the material. “But-”  
  
“Makoto.” Haruka says in a sudden gasp at hearing the tiny shake in Makoto’s voice.

“Please, you should know.” Makoto says in some sort of beg. Haru’s eyes broaden as his frown deepens. Makoto swallows thickly. When should he say it? The words pull at his lips, keeping them closed. “I haven’t… I haven’t told anybody yet.  _ No-  _ that’s a lie.” Haruka watches as his best friend stumbles over his words. “Rin found out by accident. And I want to tell you.”   
  
Haruka wants to grab Makoto by the shoulders, just look him in the face and tell him that it’s okay, to just spit it out. But he doesn’t. He stays put and waits for Makoto to say it. Makoto himself closes his eyes, and then opens them again. He looks away, and then back down at the blanket.

_ What is he doing? He just told himself that Haruka will always be there by his side. And both of them know that it’s the truth. Haruka would never say anything bad about him, nor would this change anything. Haruka trusts him. And he trusts Haruka. Their bond is something special. _

“I’m gay.” Makoto says.

Haruka’s eyes open to some extent. It shouldn’t be something that comes as a surprise, since he’s more or less been around Makoto all his life. It’s something that he should have picked up on a long time ago. And now that it’s out, it all starts to make sense. 

“...Cool.” Haruka mumbles, looking away. Makoto looks up at him, knowing that Haruka feels a little awkward with his words right now. He laughs it off, in relief. He kind of had the feeling that he would react like that. And he knows that Haruka supports him, just from that one word. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll keep it secret.” He follows up with, confirming Makoto’s thoughts. 

Makoto smiles happily at him.

“Wow… I feel a  _ lot _ better now that I’ve said it.” Makoto laughs again, nervously. Haruka gives him that weak smile again. He too feels better now that he knows.

“How did Rin find out?” He asks curiously. He settles down again, lying on his side and facing Makoto. Makoto stays sat up, looking across at his best friend.

“It was an accident. When I first gave you all the lyrics, he asked me if it was about a girl, and I reacted a little weirdly. He caught on, and I had to tell him.” Makoto says with a small frown. Haruka looks at him weirdly.

“That was a while ago.” Haruka comments.

“It was an accident, I didn’t set out on telling him that long ago.” Makoto says in some sort of plead. He knew that he’d be a bit upset about Rin knowing before him. Haruka gives him a soft shrug.

“When did you find out yourself?” Haruka asks after a short silence. Makoto kind of knew that was coming. But Haruka has the right to ask all of these questions now. He’ll just have to explain what he told Sousuke that night.

Sousuke… Makoto has to remind himself that nobody knows about their relationship. Not even Haruka. He wonders for a quick moment what his reaction would be to that.

“It’s something I just realised as I grew up. I stopped finding girls attractive, and boys started appealing to me more. I always thought it was wrong, but I had to teach myself it wasn’t. Love is love.” Makoto shrugs lightly. Giving a short, and chopped up version of what he told Sousuke. 

He does feel slightly bad for not telling Haruka the every detail like he did with Sousuke, but… He doesn’t know why. He just felt like Sousuke needed more information to understand _ himself _ , he guesses. That’s not bad, right?

Makoto doesn’t even know about Haruka’s sexuality, with that in mind. But as they’ve grown up, Makoto’s known that Haruka’s one true love is music. It makes him smile.

“So… when you were a child?” Haruka pushes, though Makoto can tell by his tone that he’s trying to be careful. 

“At the end of middle school, to be exact. That’s when I confirmed it.” Makoto nods, giving Haruka another smile, who blinks softly.

“Do you like anybody?” Haruka asks, of course that had to be one of the questions.

Makoto lets out a small groan in reply, before realising that that might have made something look a little odd. But Haruka’s gentle expression doesn’t change, so he hasn’t made anything obvious. At least, not yet. He gives himself a small warning to be careful around Sousuke tomorrow.

The thing is, Makoto would tell Haruka that he likes Sousuke right now, if things between those two weren’t so tense and awkward.

“No.” Makoto says simply, looking up at Haruka. Haruka lies on his back again, inhaling softly through his nose. Makoto inwardly panics for a second. Does he believe him?

“You’ll find someone.” Haruka says. That makes Makoto smile. He’s so glad right now that he’s told Haruka, and that Haruka himself is willing to show him support, despite being quite silent about it.

“I hope so.” Makoto sighs happily, laying back down comfortably on his futon.

“I’m here if you need to talk to me about it.” Haruka adds quickly, making Makoto laugh quietly, at how hard Haruka is trying right now. He honestly wouldn’t have anybody else by his side right now.

“That makes me happy, Haru-chan.” Makoto says joyfully, adding the little suffix to his name in gratitude.

“Unless you add ‘-chan’ to my name.” Haruka digs back at him. Makoto passes it off with another giggle.

He really hopes Haruka and Sousuke get along tomorrow. He hopes that they become good friends, and if he and Sousuke eventually do form a romantic relationship, that he’ll approve of it, as well as their other friends.

His phone buzzes beside him, ironically. Perfectly timed.

_ [Sousuke: ok. see you tomorrow.] _

“Sousuke says it’s cool for you to come.” Makoto says, knowing that Haruka is probably curious as to what that sudden buzz was.

“I was gonna come anyway. I don’t know why you asked him.” Haruka retorts. His little attitude towards them is humourous, Makoto thinks. He’s starting to think that Haruka is maybe… A little jealous of their relationship. Then again, he kind of has the right. He and Sousuke are  _ much _ closer than Haruka and Sousuke are. And they all met on the same day.

_ [Goodnight, Sousuke. See you tomorrow.] _

Makoto texts him back, before deciding to switch his phone’s notifications to silent. If Sousuke keeps texting him, then Haruka will start getting suspicious.

“Makoto. Are you going to sleep?” Haruka asks after a small moment has passed.

“I was about to ask you the same thing. I guess so.” Makoto nods, despite Haruka not being able to see him. Haruka stays silent for a moment longer, before looking back over his shoulder.

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Haru. Thank you for being here.”

Makoto exhales happily through his nose, turning on his side. He puts his phone down, but before he can turn it off, another message glows on his screen.

_ [Sousuke: get out of my fucking head] _

Makoto's smile widens as he closes his eyes for the night.

\---

“Makoto wants me to hear you sing.”

The following morning, Sousuke doesn’t ask Makoto to meet him in the off-side bathroom. One, because Haruka is here, and two, Makoto doesn’t like it. He thinks it’s kind of sweet of Sousuke to consider that.

Sousuke himself is a little wary around Haruka. The moment the two of them got here, Sousuke greeted Makoto normally, before he gave Haruka a small glance. Haruka returned the glance, of course.

And he’s still a little wary now. He looks at Haruka oddly at his small request, before looking to Makoto, even more confused. Makoto gives him a small laugh, reaching up to itch at the back of his neck.

“I stayed at Haru’s place last night. I might have told him a thing or two.” Makoto says nervously. Sousuke’s eyes widen again for a sudden second. The way Makoto puts it makes it sound like he told Haruka more than ‘Sousuke sings.’

Makoto catches on, and flashes him a quick relaxing glance.

Sousuke’s natural frown grows as he looks away.

“I don’t just sing for people.” He says bluntly. Haruka’s brow knits together.

“You might as well let me hear you now and get it over with.” Haruka says, insisting that Sousuke sings. Makoto looks at them both with bated breath. This isn’t giving him anything positive.

“Why is it so important for you?” Sousuke asks, turning his head.

“Sousuke, we’re gonna practice, so Haru can hear you now, anyway. Let’s just practice, okay?” Makoto butts in between the two of them. 

He thinks to himself for a second. Maybe the sound of Haruka’s soft guitar playing, and Sousuke’s soft voice will put them at ease, and enlighten the situation

“Alright.” Haruka answers him, moving to take a chair. He moves the chair to the other end of the room, giving Makoto and Sousuke the table, and their own space.

Makoto watches him wistfully, before looking back to Sousuke sympathetically. He knows that Haruka is a bit tough to get along with, but Sousuke should at least give him a chance.

Sousuke doesn’t say anything, but when he does, the second his mouth opens, a guitar comes out.

Sousuke closes his mouth, and looks behind Makoto at Haruka, who plays his guitar alone. Said guitar is already plugged into an amplifier, and being strummed away. Sousuke has already agreed that Haruka is a talented guitarist, and that his skills are something else, but right now, that can wait.

Makoto notices the annoyed look on Sousuke’s face, and too turns around. How Haruka has set up and got into it so quickly is kind of amusing, as well as Sousuke’s expression.

“Right…” Sousuke says, his voice a little low. Trying hard to ignore the blaring chords from the opposite of the room, he stands up from the table, and walks around towards Makoto, opting to stand besides him. “You brought your keyboard?”

Makoto hums, moving to take said instrument out of it’s case.

Haruka looks back over his shoulder, watching as Sousuke helps Makoto to set up.

“We’ll practice going over the entire thing today, start to end.” Sousuke states, watching carefully as Makoto fiddles about with a few options on his keyboard’s screen, nodding at the same time to Sousuke’s words. “Just keep doing that and you’re good to go. I think Rin should start coming to these sessions with you. He said something about backing vocals, right?”

Haruka stares at Sousuke after he leaves him out.

“Oh, that’s right!” Makoto exclaims. He looks over to Sousuke, before giving Haruka a small glance. “Then, would Rin and I have to practice alone?”

“If you want what’s best for both of you.” Sousuke says, though it’s more or less a demand.

“Right.” Makoto says with a small laugh.

“Where is Rin? Kinda surprised you didn’t drag his ass here, too.” Sousuke asks, looking at the back of Haruka’s head, as the boy continues to pay no attention to him, playing his guitar. “Be good if I could hear myself think.” He continues, rightfully out loud.

“Rin’s probably just woke up. He was too busy to stay with us last night, thought we’d give him that extra sleep he needs.” Makoto replies with a soft smile. Sousuke turns back to Makoto, rolling his eyes with a tiny grin. 

He’s about to say something about Makoto being too motherly, but then the energetic wails of Haruka’s guitar reminds him that they’re not alone here.

“Right… On three I’ll count you in. We might as well see how many times we can get through this now.” Sousuke says, leaning one hand on the table. Makoto hums in agreement. He positions his hands on the beginning keys at the ready.  

Makoto closes his eyes, taking a small deep breath. Okay. Two people. Sousuke and Haruka. That’s nothing, he’s sang in front of Haruka and Rin, that’s two people. Sousuke doesn’t make this any different.

That in mind, he tries to picture himself in front of a crowd, as he knows that’s what Sousuke wants him to imagine without saying it. The room, the school’s auditorium, is as quiet as a pin drop. He, along with the rest of the band mates stand up on the stage, each with a light showering over them.

Haruka’s playing gets a little quieter as Makoto’s fingers play the opening chords of the song. He comes in about four bars in, giving him a bit of time to warm up.

His eyes are closed, but there’s a thousand eyes staring back at him behind his eyelids.

Before the third bar comes in, his fingers begin to tingle, and his legs go slightly stiff.  _ No. _ This is the last bar before he comes in. His inhale before he opens his mouth is slightly too much.

“Makoto.” 

Haruka and Sousuke call his name out at the same time.

Makoto’s eyes snap open. He looks to Sousuke first, as he’s closest, but he’s busy staring back at Haruka. The two eventually turn to look back at Makoto.

“You’re thinking too much. Focus on the music, and your voice. Nothing else.” Sousuke says, nodding strongly at Makoto. Okay, maybe thinking about the crowd was kind of over the top. Makoto nods back at him, but before he can play again, there’s another voice cutting in.

“Makoto’s nervous. Give him time to calm down.” Haruka says. Sousuke turns his head again.

“He’s alright. He’s just thinking a little more than he should be.”

Haruka glowers at the taller boy, stopping his guitar altogether.

Makoto’s shakes don’t go away. The tension between these two is making it worse.

Haruka stares at Sousuke a while longer, before going back to his guitar. He plays the intro to the song, and he’s not concerned that Makoto doesn’t play along. He’s just taking time to calm down.

“It’s kinda rude y’know.” Sousuke says, trying to voice his thoughts over the sounds of Haruka’s guitar.

“It’s calming for Makoto.” Haruka replies, not looking back at Sousuke.

“Sousuke, come on. I’m okay now. I was thinking about seeing myself again.” Makoto says quietly. He wants to reach out and take Sousuke’s arm, and tell him that he’s truly okay, and that he should calm down a little himself. But he can’t.

Sousuke looks back at him, giving him a warning look before sighing out through his nose.

“Alright. We’ll just have to sing over him.” Sousuke replies, side-eyeing Haruka when he says  _ ‘him’ _ . 

_ “Give him a chance.”  _ Makoto mouths to Sousuke, making sure Haruka can’t see him.

Sousuke looks at Makoto quite guiltily, before looking back at Haruka. Who’s staring right back at him as he plays the sweet, tune of Makoto’s song. Sousuke raises an eyebrow at him.

Makoto chews the inside of his lip. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >:0 !! souharu intensifiES
> 
> im not gonna lie, i lowkey LOVE writing beef scenes. especially between sousuke and haru. they just get me all giddy and excited to write more !! which is exactly what im gonna go do now !!
> 
> you fool. it is 3am. i am gonna go sleep.
> 
> and write in the mornin 
> 
> yeet?
> 
> \---
> 
> Please leave a kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! I appreciate everyone of your comments, they're lovely to read and they encourage me, so keep 'em coming!
> 
> I'm tagging this as [#ebimc](https://www.tumblr.com/search/ebimc) on tumblr, so if you wanna look for updates or things about this fic in general, be sure to check the tag! 
> 
> But feel free to post in the tag! Also feel free to ask me any questions regarding this fic and its updates! I love hearing your feedback!
> 
> [Check out my Tumblr here!](http://www.karumello.tumblr.com)


	35. Putting On A Show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the days towards the first live show draw close, the nerves, and most importantly the tension, is high.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *loud coughing*
> 
> listen i know i said my updates are bad and im workin on em but things have been kinda tough recently. im not gonna waste y'alls time like i have done over these past months blabberin and just get on with it.
> 
> but heY HO im free for 6 weeks !! so hopefully i should be able to bang some chappos out now :)))
> 
> ALSO quick shoutout to my good bud mengen for being my beta for this chap!
> 
> Thank you to those who have been patient with me.

_“I’m looking forward to moving…” Rin says, aged 10 with a glimmer in his eyes. He and Sousuke are on their long walk home from their after school music club._

_It’s cold outside, snowing in fact. It’s falling lightly, but there isn’t enough snow falling to stick. It kinda sucks. Sousuke always loved those days where he, Rin and Gou would spend their entire day at home making snowmen. He would always help Gou roll her snow into big enough balls so that she didn’t feel too left out when he and Rin would go over the top and make some kind of snow-monster. Then, of course, one of them would lose an item of clothing by leaving it on the snow lumps and forgetting to take it home. They’re growing older, and things like this are becoming more and more childish, but..._

_Sousuke hopes that the snow falling thickens up by tomorrow._

_Rin has his guitar slung over his back, a hand me down epiphone from his father, whilst Sousuke has his bass guitar- which Rin let him borrow, slung over his shoulder. Now that Rin’s father has passed away, their family instruments have a little more meaning to them, as bad as it sounds. Sousuke is very lucky to be Rin’s best friend._

_Though, Sousuke himself is now pouting across at his best friend, still not really over the fact that Rin has decided to leave him and move away to a new school. Sousuke remembers his father telling him something like this, that Rin will only need him for so long before he eventually moves on with his own life._

_Is he not a good enough friend?_

_No. That’s not it. Rin is his best friend, vice versa. He wouldn’t be that much of a dick to him. Rin is entirely focused on his dream. And if his dream means moving away, leaving him alone, then so be it. As long as he achieves what he wants to._

_And he guesses that he isn’t exactly alone. There are a few kids in school that he’ll mutter a quick hello to, only if they say it first. And Kisumi, too._

_Ugh. On second thought…_

_“Yeah.” Sousuke utters back. Rin’s decision might be wild right now, but as he always said himself, the two of them are better on separate sides. Teams aren’t for him. Friends are one thing, dreams are another. That’s what Sousuke believes, and it’s what he’s sticking to._

_“What’s the matter?” Rin whines, looking past his heavy guitar case at Sousuke. “We’ll still be best friends, and I promise I’ll still come and visit!” He smiles, but it doesn’t elicit anything from the other. Rin groans, letting his figure slouch slightly. “Stop being so grumpy.” He says with a small pout._

_Sousuke makes a small huff at that, and a tiny smile plays on his lips. “Who says it has anything to do with you?”_

_Rin scoffs back at him, before quickening his step a little. Though, he’s smiling too._

_\---_

**_FRIDAY - Five days until the first Live Show._ **

Sapphire cuts through the windows of the school’s hallways. Just the sound of their shoes thudding along the wooden floor accompanies the scenery outside, fresh and pure. The cherry blossoms bloom as they do, dancing, showering over their school. It’s quite the surprise that it hasn’t rained much this season. Lucky for him…

“Sousuke.”

“Hm?”

“You’ll come see the performance, right?”

Sousuke’s pace slows, as he takes his best friend’s question lightly to heart. Did he think that he wouldn’t come after all he’s done? Then again, Rin doesn’t know much about the deal between him and his dad, but he _does_ know that it’s a bit tough down on his end. Maybe that’s what triggered him to ask.

“Of course. I wouldn’t waste my time doing anything else. I wanna see what you’ve been working hard on.” Sousuke replies maturely, nodding, but not looking back at Rin as they walk along. Rin himself smiles lightly at that.

“I thought you’d say something like that.” He grins.

“Then why’d you ask?” Sousuke replies.

Rin laughs quietly, a little energy in his step this morning.

The two have just come back from their visit to the teaching office, booking their times for the live show, and told that they wouldn’t be the only performing act for this opening ceremony, they’d be joined by other acts all promoting their clubs in turn. They have one more weekend before their show next Wednesday.

Though, as much as Rin would like to promote their band… He kind of feels like with the amount of members they have, the clubs feels homely. Just how he imagined it to be, just the six of them. Well, five and a half.

He wouldn’t exactly know what to do if they got another application.

“Somethin’ on your mind?” Sousuke asks, acknowledging the look on Rin’s face, which lights up.

“I’m just thinking.” He shrugs lightly, before continuing. Sousuke makes sure to pay utmost attention, as he nears slightly closer. “Sasabe said that this is to promote our clubs, so that the first years who haven’t decided what to do will get a better idea. What if the music club gets a ton of applicants after this?”

Sousuke’s eyes widen a little at hearing that. Though, it’s true what he’s saying. With Rin’s status and all…

“I dunno. I get the feeling you’ll get at least a couple, people probably wanting to meet you and such.” Sousuke chuckles, but it doesn’t make Rin laugh at all. Instead, it makes him guilty.

Rin looks away, saddened as a frown tugs at his lips. People joining purely because of his name… That’s the last thing he wants to happen. He can’t even imagine how he’ll begin to feel knowing that people would be more interested in him rather than their band as a whole.

Sousuke looks at him sternly, curiously, seeing that he hasn’t said a single thing in reply yet. Now that he thinks about it, there’s been countless times where Rin has looked or sounded unsettled when his family name and fortune is brought up. He’d ask, but the school corridor isn’t exactly the place to do that right now.

He puts it away to ask later.

“Rin.” He says sternly, eliciting a sudden shock reaction from the other. Rin blinks quickly, giving his head a small shake, looking back to Sousuke. The arguably annoyed look on his face gives it away that he’s caught on to his thoughts, or something close at least.

“Yeah?” Rin says, as well as making a small noise at being pulled out from his thoughts.

“I wouldn’t worry about it.” Sousuke says simply, looking away and out of the window besides them, watching as the cherry blossoms lay in blankets over the school’s gardens.

Rin watches him a moment longer, before shaking his head with a small smile. “Anyways,” Rin begins again. “What time are you planning on teaching me to sing my part?” He smirks, knowing that’ll irk something.

And he’s right. Sousuke blinks a few times, remembering that Rin had opted to sing backing vocals. His voice and Makoto’s would be interesting together, but at the same time...

“I… Don’t think we’ll need them. But if you want, I guess.” Sousuke shrugs lightly, looking past Rin at the walls.

“You think he’s good enough on his own?” Rin says with slight surprise. He’s glad that Sousuke has actually praised one of his friends, instead of passing it off as just a small thing.

\---

“We’ve managed to get the last slot in the performances for the opening ceremony. We’ll be the last to perform after the chorus club, funnily enough.” Rin announces, his voice is loud and clear. The other four before him nod, as Rin and Sousuke take their seats.

“I hope the other performers manage to hold everybody’s attention, so that they’ll stick it out until our performance...” Makoto utters, taking out his bento and opening it. He stares down at his chicken pieces with a small pout on his face. “But, other than that, I’m kind of glad we got the last slot.” He says, lifting his head and showing his radiant smile.

“Agreed.” Rei nods confidently. “Performing after the chorus club may just show them what I was truly capable of the entire time!”  
  
“Rei-chan, you haven’t done much…” Nagisa pipes up, putting his cream bread down for a second as Rei lets slip a tiny gasp.

“I believe I have done my part solely!” Rei partly boasts, partly yells. “With the slightest of Rin-san and Yamazaki-senpai’s help…”

“Yamazaki…?” Haruka repeats, raising an eyebrow, as well as everybody else. Sousuke shoots Rei a warning look, as Makoto bites his tongue, but it’s too late.

“Sousuke?” Rin finishes off Haruka’s suspicions. “He helped you?” Rin grows a smirk, and flashes it in Sousuke’s direction, who looks back at him with an expression that’s not quite readable at first. It’s slightly horrified, leaning more towards angered. He glares for a second longer, before looking off to the side, sighing quietly.

“A couple mornings ago,” Sousuke begins, not making eye contact with anybody, though he knows exactly who he wants to look at right now.

Makoto watches him calmly.

“Myself and Makoto were practising, and he happened to be there early-”

“My intention was to practice my bass skills more.” Rei cuts in suddenly, making sure the story flows properly. Sousuke side-eyes him, seeing that he’s chosen to take over said story. “Makoto-senpai and Yamazaki-senpai were busy practicing, but my playing must have been so awful that Yamazaki-senpai had to step in and instruct me.”

Sousuke is silently thankful that he didn’t mention the fact that they weren’t practicing in the same room. He doesn’t know what he’d do if Rei let it slip, and he knows that Makoto would be just the same as him.

“Well, I never knew that.” Rin chuckles “Sounds like you, Sousuke. Keeping that to yourself.” Rin smirks, though on the inside, he is a little irked. Why _was_ he keeping that to himself? It isn’t much to be ashamed of.

Though… He knows that Sousuke is very private with the things he does. Nevertheless, he usually warms up to Rin and tells him most things. Or, at least, that’s how it was when they were younger. Those times haven’t changed, right? The thought makes Rin shrink down a bit. He sits back and decides to let Sousuke have his way this time.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Haruka asks suddenly, inwardly deciding to go against Rin’s thoughts. He directs the question more toward Makoto, looking up at him with a slightly annoyed glance. Makoto can only blink back at him, before having to come up with something on the spot.

“I just thought that maybe Sousuke didn’t want you all to know. And maybe Rei wanted to surprise us all.” Makoto shrugs lightly, giving Haru a tiny smile, but it doesn’t completely erase the look from his face.

_Why is he keeping Sousuke’s secrets?_

The question plays on both of their minds.

“Speaking of practice,” Rin leads off, managing to attract everyone’s attention. He lets out a small chuckle, one that sounds particularly misleading. The eyes of his friends widen, just a bit. “I managed to get Sasabe to agree to letting us practice on the stage today.” Rin says with a wide smile, shaking his hair out of his face as he listens to the tiny gasps of his friends.

“The school’s main stage?” Makoto asks, a slight wavering tone to his voice. Sousuke and Haruka turn to look at him directly.

“I dunno any other stages in the school… There’s only one, and that’s the main hall stage, right?” Rin asks, tilting his head.

“Yeah. That’s great, Rin!” Makoto nods, suddenly seeming happy. In all fairness, he _is_ happy. That is, until he remembers this is after school. Sousuke won’t be there to supervise him.

Wow. Has he literally gotten to that point, pathetic as it is, where even the idea of Sousuke not being there with him when he’s singing makes him disheartened? Makoto tries not to make any visible expression as the thought crosses his mind.

“Woah! The main stage is all ours?” Nagisa beams, a sudden sparkle to his eye. His movements are quick and sharp as he scoots closer, mouth open in wonder. Rin blinks back at him for a second before lowering his head, giving a curt nod, and a smile.

“Just for today. And of course, for the live show.” Rin spoke, seeing a sudden light to everybody’s face, but he in particular looks at Sousuke, who has no facial change at all. He thinks about how Sousuke can’t perform with them, and to be fair, it tugs at his heartstrings. Just a little.

\---  


****__**SATURDAY - Four days until the first Live Show**  
  
Makoto leans back on the porch with one hand, looking up at the clear May blue skies as he thinks about nothing in particular. His lips are wrapped around a cold treat, his free hand pushes it in and out of his mouth in a slow rhythm, giving it small feverish licks with his tongue. The sun that beats down on his skin is warm, keeping his happy spirit up.

Today, both him and Rin are staying over at Haruka’s house, hoping to get some more practice done together as a trio. Haruka and Rin’s parts playing together causes a fuss, since the two are so… Well, _fussy_ over their parts. But right now, they’re taking a small break, sitting out on Haruka’s porch enjoying their snacks. Makoto opted for the pole that he had brought a few days ago, but left it here since it got too cold outside for him to eat.   
  
The bitter taste of lemon trickles down his throat as he continues to suck, his eyes close and he speeds up his hand slightly, pushing harder on the stick and feeling the same juices spilling over his lips. The thickness of the ice pole doesn't stretch his lips as wide as he hoped it would.   
  
He tilts his head further back and pinches the tip of the stick with his thumb and index finger, pushing the ice pole further into his mouth, disappearing into his throat, so that only the stick pokes outside his lips. It's cold, of course, but it feels hot to him, melting fast as he gives a few shallow thrusts down his throat. He pulls the treat out from between his lips slowly, licking at the tip hungrily, minimally surprised that he managed to take it all.

The ice pole suddenly tastes a little saltier as he licks it leisurely from base to tip a few times, making sure that he’s tasting every inch. He hates to think it, but his breath is getting heavier. He draws his tongue around the head, before pushing it between his lips for a third time. Tilting his head back again, he finally opens his eyes, half-lidded as he looks up to the blue skies again, but all he sees is that same caribbean current in _his_ eyes.

“Uh… Makoto?”

Makoto’s eyes snap open all the way. Time seems to slow down as he gradually turns his head, letting the pole slip out from his mouth as he stares both Rin and Haruka, who look absolutely _horrified_ , in the eyes. Not only can he feel the sudden rush of utter embarrassment and shame, but he can detect the tiny snickers that want to leave both of his best friend’s mouths.

He hides his face with a hand, creating a wall between himself and his friends, inwardly wanting to cry as he hears Rin bursting the bubble and letting out a bark of laughter. He’s positive he hears Haruka let out a tiny huff, and _that’s_ something.   
  
“We know you’re gay, Makoto. Calm down.” Haruka says nonchalantly.

Rin’s laughter gets even louder, as Makoto practically whimpers behind his hand.

“Someone on your mind?” Rin asks with a slight smirk once he’s calmed down. Behind his hand, Makoto’s eyes widen. Of course he was going to be asked that.

“N-no!” Makoto cries out, lowering his hand slightly so that he can see eye to eye with Rin. Rin’s smirk doesn’t fade, nor does it widen.

“I dunno…” Rin leads off, sounding very unconvinced. Makoto holds back a sweat that begs to break out, covering this mess up as best as he can. “Kinda looked like you were in your own little world back there. Who were you with? You can tell us, Makoto…”  
  
Makoto even catches Haruka staring at him in the corner of his eye, despite telling him just a couple nights ago the same thing.

“It’s nobody, I-” Makoto pauses in his self defence to shiver slightly at the small drips falling into his lap from his untouched and melting ice pole. “I just, I was thinking about the performance, trying to distract myself and I just got a little carried away…”

“Then, you’d better not do that on stage, Makoto.” Rin chuckles. “I don’t think you’d make our first impression a very good one if you just sucked the microphone like it was a dick.” He smirks as he delivers the final blow, hearing Makoto’s absolute _cry._

 _“Rin!”_ He whines out, hiding his face behind his hand again.

Rin laughs outwardly, though on the inside, he isn’t entirely sure what to make of the nervousness to Makoto’s voice just now. It’s the same for Haruka, as he himself chooses to stay silent again, shooting Rin a small glare for his crudeness.

They both choose to trust him, for now.

\---

**_SUNDAY - Three days until the first Live Show_ **

“Tomorrow, we’re gonna have to spend our lunch in the club room. We have to make this perfect.” Rin says, mid jog along the coast of Iwatobi. Either side of him, Makoto and Haruka nod quietly, slightly breathless to make a reply.

Both Rin and Makoto know that Haruka is the slowest out of the three of them, so as Rin runs a little on ahead, Makoto makes sure to stay at the same pace as Haruka.

“It’s still kinda hard to believe we’re performing again after all this time, huh?” Makoto says when he does eventually gather his breath together.

“Yeah.” Rin smiles, looking ahead at the scenery. The afternoon sun gives everything ahead a golden glow. It attracts all of their attention, not one of them being able to tear their eyes away. Although it’s the middle of the afternoon, the breeze of the calming ocean is warm, and relaxing.

\---

Sousuke bites his tongue lightly as he walks along his street. Chouko happily waddles along at the end of the leash, a little ahead of him, knowing fully well where they’re going. As a treat, Sousuke is taking her on a long walk through the park. Both for him and her to get some exercise, knowing that the both of them can’t stay cooped up in the house all day. Chouko will start getting restless, and Sousuke will start thinking too much. And he’s been doing that a lot recently, thinking about the same thing.

Sousuke promised Makoto a date the day after the performance. He’s not a clue on where he can take him, or what he can even do. He thinks about what he knows about Makoto so far. He knows that he likes Chouko, so should he bring her along, too? On second thought… He _did_ say that he wanted it to be just the two of them, so that includes pets…

He knows that Makoto likes animals, then. There aren’t any zoo’s nearby, nor does he exactly have zoo money… Damn it. Think. Then again, he doesn’t want to do anything too big and costly. He doesn’t want to show off and set Makoto’s expectations for all of their dates as high as that.

That is, if they _do_ have any more dates after this...

Chouko barks impatiently at his feet, looking up at Sousuke before turning and looking back at the park gates. Sousuke shakes his head, before continuing forward, muttering a quiet “sorry” to her.

Maybe he would like something like this? Something simple where the two can enjoy the scenery and just talk. Or is that too simple? He feels like they can do that without making it a date. He’s gonna have to step it up more.

Perhaps they could grab a coffee or something first? No, that’s too cliche and typical. That crosses out the cinema and lunch package, too.

Sousuke kicks a stray twig in small anger, forgetting about the happy puppy at the end of the leash he holds until he feels a small tug around his hand. He looks down to see Chouko, trying to chase after the twig. Chouko manages to grab the twig, before Sousuke scolds her.

“Don’t eat that. There could be worms…” He mutters, getting down on his knee so that the puppy can at least be at some kind of level with him. He takes the twig and scans it carefully for anything, before tossing it away, keeping her in place. He pets her soft head, and then opens his pocket, and takes out a rope toy for her to hold instead, which she takes gratefully.

That’s another thing. He has to be careful when he sees other dogs, knowing that Chouko can get a bit too big for her boots after what happened last time he brought her here. He’ll never forget the look on that poor woman’s face...

Sousuke thinks about other things as he returns to full height, walking along but also keeping an eye out.

Makoto… He likes sweet things, right? Maybe he can buy him a cake or something. And again, that’s not date-y enough. His internet search history is already embarrassing enough, full of questions that he’ll never let anybody see, so he’s not going to add to that list and search for some ideas, either.

Sousuke thinks, what _is_ the borderline? What makes a date a date? Sousuke knows he isn’t a romantic person, so what if he fucks this up because of that? Do dates even have to be romantic?

He groans quietly to himself as he continues to walk along. He’d ask Rin, the romance genius, but he can’t for all but two reasons: 1, Rin would want to know why he wants to know about dates, and 2, Rin would probably cut his balls off for calling him the romance genius.

The clean, fresh air of the greenery around him does nothing to keep him calm at all. He looks up around him, and everything is green. Kind of like Makoto himself. Except, the trees don’t have that same shine that his eyes do.

Ugh. Why does he notice these kind of things about Makoto, but not the things that Makoto likes himself?

As they continue to walk, the sound of ecstatic children rushing about in the play area nearby makes Sousuke wish that he’d brought out his earphones with him today. Usually, he’d leave them at home and just dwell in the sounds of the birds and the nature surrounding him, helping him to clear his mind.

Wait. That’s it! Sousuke almost stops walking for a second as the idea strikes him. Music. He knows that obviously Makoto likes it, and he knows his favourite genre, too. It’s genius, but only genius if he does it right.

Now… How can he interpret that into a date? With the base idea in his head, he walks a little faster paced as he tries to think of something. Maybe he could go back to that lunch date? Perhaps request a song that Makoto likes… The thought plays on his mind for a bit longer as he watches his puppy walk ahead. You can’t exactly eat fancy dishes and headbang at the same time… Would Makoto even do that? Maybe they don’t need to eat lunch?

Sousuke pouts at himself as he follows behind Chouko. He at least thought that he’d have something good planned out by now. How many days has it been? The realisation that Sousuke has actually had an _entire week_ to plan this out hits him harder than it should. It makes him speed up a little as he walks, a little frantic to hurry up in a sense and figure something out, in turn causing Chouko to break out into a tiny jog.

He wants to make sure that he gets to know Makoto more. That’s his main goal, after all. Being honest with himself, Sousuke knows that he _does_ have some kind of interest in Makoto. Ever since their first day meeting, there’s been something about him that makes him want to know more. Maybe it’s the fact that he knew nothing about Makoto because Rin had been too busy talking about Haruka, or maybe it’s that Makoto himself is just enthralling… Both his appearance and character.

And what he does know about Makoto, he didn’t expect. He didn’t expect him to be into metal, and he didn’t expect him to be the keyboardist. Makoto was afraid of singing out loud, and he was also the lyricist. Most importantly, he didn’t expect Makoto to like him.

Makoto… He truly is talented. Sousuke didn’t think that his first time singing out loud would have went as well as it did. His voice when he talked was so soft, but when he sang it was so _deep_ , and rough… It’s fascinating to him. And when they kissed, he’s never kissed anyone before, but it _felt good._ Like he knew what he was doing.

Sousuke ponders is Makoto has ever kissed anybody before, and then he remembers. He stole Makoto’s first kiss.

He lets out a small, huff of amusement through his nose, remembering that day clearly, because how could he forget? Makoto’s face was almost as red as Rin’s hair. He left him that note, God forbid why he did it, probably to cheer him up but it was true. Makoto _is_ cute. But that’s not just it, that’s not just all that he is. He’s handsome, too, when he wears that confident smile, or when he’s singing with passion.

Sousuke has to mentally tell himself to get a grip when he recognizes that he’s been walking along with a goofy smile on his face this entire time. He looks down at Chouko, who looks back at him, still holding her toy in her mouth as she cocks his head. Sousuke’s tempted to say something back to her, but she’s a dog, she wouldn’t get it.

That’s another thing. Chouko ruined what was going to be their first kiss. He can’t imagine what he would have done if Chouko wasn’t there to stop them… Would they still kiss? Or would one of them notice what they were about to do and stop? Makoto still liked him back then, so maybe he wouldn’t have.

Sousuke bites the inside of his lip as he imagines how that first kiss would have went if Chouko wouldn’t have interrupted them. He imagines it would have been slow, and nervous. Would Makoto let it be a peck, or push on to something more? He doubts Makoto wouldn’t allow himself to kiss him however he wanted, not knowing how the other felt. But if he would have reciprocated the kiss, would he have continued?

Each time he thinks of kissing Makoto, he thinks about the cola chapstick that was so rightfully handed to him by Nagisa, and how much his lips tasted like it, how sweet it was to kiss him. And everytime he drinks cola, he thinks about the chapstick, which leads him back to Makoto again. It’s a constant loop that plays around in his head.

He can’t drink his favourite drink without thinking of Makoto, and he can’t listen to his favourite songs, hearing that piano and thinking of Makoto. He can’t wake up in the morning and look to that same spot in his bed where Makoto was that morning the night after he’d stayed, breath a little heavy and face slightly red, without thinking of Makoto.

It’s pathetic. And he doesn’t know what to do about it.

Besides… What was Makoto even dreaming about back then?

It’s just how the song goes. He can’t get him out of his mind, no matter how hard he’s been trying. He just hopes he doesn’t reach the point where his nights alone really do become sleepless.

And now that he’s reached the park gates again, he’s going to be reminded of this time he thought about Makoto the entire time he was here, every time he comes here. Great.

Chouko barks happily, dropping her toy on the ground for Sousuke to pick up again. He sighs softly as he kneels down to pick up the toy, avoiding the wet part where it was in her mouth just before, and puts it into his pocket again. She’s happy again, at least.

As he begins his walk home, he decides to take a shortcut down a sidestreet besides his apartment building. It’s a little hidden away, but it’s a pretty lively street. It kind of reminds him of Tokyo, where it was definitely a lot more lively. He passes a small takeaway place, glancing through the windows at the customers happily enjoying their food, wondering if Makoto would like that. It’s a little unhealthy, but…

Turning his head with a small hum, a larger building catches Sousuke’s eyes, as well as his ears, as he hears a low bass coming from inside. The building itself doesn’t look like it should have loud music, as it just looks more or less like a typical cafe. His eyes widen at the building, widening even more as he moves closer, glancing over a sign sat outside, listing a number of some kind of event.

And it’s perfect.

But a small whimper from Chouko pulls him away. The bass must be too loud for her little ears. Sousuke looks down at the puppy a little guiltily, but at the same time, slightly annoyed since he’s just found the perfect thing.

He notes down the name of the place in his head as he hurries past, and continues home.

\---

That same night, Makoto sits at his table, brushing the rubber shavings off of his homework as he thinks about what he could do now. He could work on his keyboard for the performance or maybe work on some lyrics… But seeing as the live show is literally in three days, he thinks that playing his keyboard has a _teeny_ bit more importance.

Seeing as he has a moment, he decides to take a break and eat the banana he had brought upstairs with him as a snack before getting down to work. He peels it slowly, biting his lip whilst looking over its phallic shape. He pauses to glance up at the lock on his bedroom door, and then brings the fruit to his lips, allowing it to slip easily into his mouth.

It’s not long until he feels his body slowly lowering, back flat against the floor as this fever overcomes him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wink wonk wink wonk its the kink police come out with your dick up, makoto
> 
> hopefully this chap made up for my god awful updates. if it didnt pls tell me and i will publically dropkick myself or somethin idk
> 
> \---
> 
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> 
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